Riven
by KoteSkirata
Summary: Set in the time after the movie. The Avengers returned to SHIELD, Fury is still in charge, and there's someone our heroes need to meet. Riven Lange is a very special young lady. Hang on for the ride. And the sequel, The Freed, is now online as well.
1. Chapter 1 - Day 1

**Hello all. This is my first Avengers fanfic, and I kind of wreaked havoc on the canon. Bear with me. It's worth it. **

**K.S.**

"And now," Fury said, "I'd like you to meet someone very special."

The Avengers were gathered in one of the many hallways of SHEILD's ship, standing outside a laboratory with a iris scanner sealing it shut. They had just finished a long tour of some highly classified areas, and Hawkeye had to wonder what was left that was supposed to impress them.

Fury continued, "This woman is undoubtedly our very best scientist. At the age of twelve, she had completed high school. By the time she was fourteen, she had a PHD in physics. When she was sixteen, she had Master's Degrees in six fields of highly advanced and specific technology. At eighteen, she designed and created the ship we are standing on. She is now twenty-two, and responsible for the vast majority of the technology we rely on. Gentlemen, Agent Romanoff; as our specialist refuses to be adressed by any of her well-earned titles – may I present, Miss Riven Lange."

He stepped up to the door and the scanner read his one remaining eye. The doors hissed open, revealing a state of the art laboratory, populated by a single young woman with spiky black hair, dressed in a white lab coat. She was in the middle of a conference call, manipulating several touchscreens at once.

"No, no," she said, "How many times do I have to tell you, that just won't work." She reached across her body with her left hand, tapping a screen on her right side. "This," she reached back to the left with her right hand, selecting a molecular sequence. "And this," she pulled both hands toward each other, slinging the data onto a central screen. "Have to fit together like _this._"

She tapped the central screen, grabbing and rearranging several molecules. "There. Really, Lawrence, do you remember _anything _I tell you?"

The man on conference call had on spectacles and a harrassed expression. "Yes, Miss Lange," he replied patiently. "I am sorry, Miss Lange. I see you have visitors."

Riven waved a hand behind her back, acknowledging her company. "Yes, Avengers, be right with you. Now," she adressed the screen once more. "You try to wrap your head around what we did today, and I'll call you tommorrow."

"Yes, Miss Lange," Lawrence replied, and closed his communications window.

"Don't call me that," Riven muttered, and smacked the countertop with her open hand. She closed her eyes, sighed, straigtened up, opened her eyes, and turned to face the group assembled behind her.

"Right. Avengers. Fury. Morning. How are you all?"

There was a momentary pause, and then Captain America, ever the gentleman, replied, "Fine, ma'am, and you?"

She sighed a little, and ran her fingers through her spiky black hair. "Stressed. And call me Riven, anything else makes me feel old."

Fury cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Miss Lange, I thought perhaps you might show our Avengers your communicators?"

Riven's eyes widened, showing brilliant grey irises. "Oh, uh, yeah. Those are ready to outfit. Um… over here, everybody."

She ushered the group across the lab, to a side table set out with eight tiny black specks of technology. "So, um, these fit behind your ears, they are waterproof, fireproof, shockproof, and," Riven glanced up at Dr. Banner, "As far as I can tell, Hulk-change-proof."

He gave her a small smile.

Tony Stark scooped up one of the tiny communicators and squinted at it. "How do you power these?"

Riven smiled. "Baccardium. I'm sure you're familiar with its properties."

Stark glanced at her. "You do know my suit uses Ramidium for a lubricant?"

She shrugged. "Of course. But I've triple-checked the data, and there should be no problems as long as you don't actually drop your communicator into a bunch of Ramidium."

Seeing the confusion on the faces of the other Avengers, with the exception of Dr. Banner, Riven added, "Baccardium and Ramidium make one of the most volatile explosives in the world."

Captain America raised his eyebrows. Riven hastily continued, "The communicators use clamps the size of atoms to grip skin cells, so you won't be able to feel them, but they won't come off unless I use the override code."

Hawkeye picked up one of the miraculous black specks. "How does it read what we're saying?" he asked, and Riven lit up, grey eyes sparkling.

"Vibrations in the bone structure of your skull are translated, and transmitted," she replied. "It's practically perfect. Try it."

Hawkeye glanced at her for a long moment, then placed the communicator behind his ear, where it stuck easily. "Is it on?" he asked, and Riven nodded, eyes shining.

Hawkeye looked at Stark, who shrugged, and stuck his own communicator into place. Hawkeye said quietly, "Testing."

Stark's eyes went wide, and then he whistled. "These are nice," he said, and Riven smiled.

"I'm glad you like them," she replied. One by one, the other Avengers, and Fury, picked up their communicators and placed them behind their ears. Riven scooped up the last one and placed it behind her own ear.

"So," she said, and they all heard her as clearly as if she was speaking directly into their ears, "These are for instant communication. They don't wear out, and if you should lose one, although I can't imagine how, I can track it's signal from here. They double as locators, but are pretty much undetectable without my passcodes. The channels are adjustable, so just say the name of the person you want to talk to for a private line, or the command _all _for the general channel. Oh, and, to avoid conversational mistakes, you have to start with the keyword _command._"

Fury nodded. "Very impressive, Miss Lange. I think we'll leave you to your work now."

Riven pursed her lips. "Don't call me that. And, uh, yes, thank you all for coming."

The Avengers thanked her and filed out, leaving Riven standing alone her lab once more. She sighed a little as the doors hissed shut, and her shoulders crumpled. "Command, off," she muttered, and then added, "God, I hate doing that. They must have thought I was ridiculous."

Riven jerked upright as her communicator chimed a sound that only she could hear. Natasha Romanoff's voice echoed in her head as the Black Widow said, "Well done, Riven."

She smiled, and replied, "Thanks, Nat. Do you think they liked me?"

Natasha laughed. "How could anyone not like you? You were charming, as always. But Fury needs to update his paranoia – he didn't even know we knew each other."

Riven's smile turned sad, and she said, "Well, thanks for the check-in. You should probably get back to the tour."

Natasha groaned. "God, what haven't we seen? Talk to you later, then." And Riven's communicator chimed a sign-off.

The spiky haired young woman ran her hands through her black locks, making them even more alarming. "All right, Riv," she muttered, "Back to work. We've got a lot to do before dawn."

**What do you think? Don't worry, there's more. Now, review. Always review! K.S.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Day 2

**I hope no one noticed, but I made a royal screw-up and originally forgot to post this chapter, and skipped it entirely. My apologies. Thank goodness I realized what I'd done. I am fixing it right now.**

**Disclaimer: Do you really think someone as forgetful as me would own something as cool as the Avengers? I wish.**

**K.S.**

Hawkeye couldn't sleep.

It was one in the morning, and he had woken up with chills, sweating and shaking. He'd rolled out of his bunk, splashed water on his face, and climbed up to his nest.

Hawkeye was sitting in an air vent, nested in with blankets and a few pillows, re-reading an old book with a tattered cover. It was called Crooked House, and it made him feel horrible, but it was the only thing that could calm him down after a nightmare.

Hawkeye hated the book. It reminded him of all the things wrong with the world. But it lowered his heartrate and evened his breathing. Without reading the book, he'd be hyper all night, unable to sit still.

So he nested in an air vent and read Crooked House.

Hawkeye had been there for about half an hour when a panel in the bottom of the vent made a scraping noise. He jerked upright, reaching for the knife he wore at his back. The panel slid to the side, and a tangle of spiky black hair appeared. "Knock, knock – any hawks in here?"

He relaxed, and held out a hand. Riven took it, and he pulled her up into the vent. She ducked under a support strut, and slid the panel closed.

Riven glanced around her. "Wow. Nice nest, Agent Barton."

He tilted his head to the side, studying her. "How'd you find me?"

She raised her jet black eyebrows. "Really? I created this ship, Barton, she's my baby. I keep tight tabs on her. Why do you think the cleaning robots never vacuumed up your stuff?"

Hawkeye considered this for a moment. "Thanks."

Riven shrugged. "No problem. And before you ask, no one else knows. Heck, I had to crawl through a mile of pipe to get here."

He smiled, and she caught sight of the book in his hand. "Crooked House?" Riven jerked backwards, apalled. "I hate that book!"

Hawkeye's smile vanished. "So do I," he said softly.

Riven went still, watching him. After a moment, she began to dig through the pockets of her lab coat, never taking her eyes off him. He would't look at her.

Riven produced a flat metal circle from a pocket, and smiled. She turned her attention to the object, pressing a smaller circle at its center. The circle made a hissing sound, and sprung out into a metal-and-glass cylinder. Riven shook it hard as it began filling with liquid.

Hawkeye watched in quiet puzzlement as Riven popped the top off the cylinder and sipped the liquid. She sighed in satisfaction, and offered it to him. "Margarita?"

Silently, he took the cylinder, drank, and handed it back. They sat quietly for a little while, and then Riven said suddenly, "Can't sleep?"

Hawkeye gave her a guarded glance. She stared into the metal wall in front of her, and continued, "I don't sleep anymore. Most nights I barely manage three hours. Fury keeps trying to get me to sleep more, but nothing works. I've tried sedatives, I've tried getting drunk – oh, that was an experience." Seeing his questioning look, Riven explained, "I can't get drunk. No, really. Believe me, I've tried, but it just doesn't work. Like sleeping. I just can't stay still for very long. I hate it. It makes me feel caged."

She shuddered a little, and Hawkeye said quietly, "You've got me beat." Riven looked a question at him, and he added, "Most nights I make at least five hours. Sometimes only four."

Riven shrugged. "I finally decided I should just come see what you do here, instead of staring at a monitor and wondering."

He smiled, just a bit. "Not much, I'm afraid."

She was silent for a moment, then gestured at the worn paperback he'd set aside. "Why do you read that book?"

Hawkeye looked down at the green cover. "It's my sedative," he said softly.

Riven's grey eyes went soft, and he met her gaze for the first time. "What do you do when you can't sleep?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "I analyze attack patterns. Fury has me identifying strengths, weaknesses, and repetetive factors."

Hawkeye raised his eyebrows. "Is there anything you can't do?" he asked wryly.

"Sing," Riven replied immediately. "I can't carry a tune in a bucket, and I have no sense of pitch. But I can dance like crazy."

He eyed her hair. "I bet you can."

Something beeped, and Riven slapped at her right ear. "Shit." She glanced at Hawkeye, self-concious as she scrambled upright. "It's my other communicator. I have to go."

Riven gestured at the margarita cylinder, and added, "You can keep that. Fill it halfway with cold water and close it when you're done." She slid her floor panel aside, and stared down into the access pipe. "Damn," she muttered.

Hawkeye rolled his storm-colored eyes. "Leave that alone." He opened the trapdoor he used to reach his nest, and added, "Come this way."

Riven watched him drop down, and glanced back at her own panel, hesitating. "You coming?" Hawkeye called from somewhere below, and she made a snap decision.

"Yeah," she called back, closing her panel. She moved to his trapdoor, peering down into the shadows.

"Come on," Hawkeye said impatiently, and she saw him standing below. Riven bit her lip, and jumped.

Hawkeye caught her around the waist, and set her down, all business. He opened the door out of his rooms, and pointed down the hall. "Your lab is that way."

Riven glanced once around his rooms, wishing she could have gotten a better look around, and said, "Thanks," as she ducked out the door. She was halfway down the hall when Hawkeye called, "Hey, Riven?"

Riven glanced back at him. He added, "Thanks for the drink. You can call me Hawk."

She gave him a shining smile, and vanished around the corner.

**Sorry for the mix-up. Keep reading, keep reviewing.**

**K.S.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Day 2

**Disclamer: I own nothing but Riven.**

**I have already written a lot of this, and am therefore posting a lot of it in the same day. You lucky people.**

**K.S.**

The next morning, Riven was sitting alone in the crowded cafeteria, not eating her breakfast. She held the fork in her left hand, picking at a tiny dish of fruit that was the only food in front of her.

The chair across from her slid back, and she looked up as Steve Rodgers sat down across from her. Riven blinked at him, grey eyes cloudy. "Morning," he said cheerfully.

"Morning, Captain," Riven mumbled back. She was trying hard not to look at his heavily laden tray.

Steve looked at her curiously, seeing a brilliant young woman who was pale as a ghost, hiding behind her absurdly spiky hair. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked.

Riven shok her head, eyes locked on the tabletop. "I don't eat in the mornings," she muttered.

He smiled at her, reaching across the table to gently take her chin in his hand and lift her head. Riven stared at him, cloudy eyes far away.

"Are you all right?" Steve's voice was kind, and Riven bit her lip, white teeth fitting neatly into a tiny groove in her red lips. It looked like an often-repeated motion, and he felt a tug of compassion.

"I. . ." For the first time since he'd met her, Steve found Riven at a loss for words. "I'm ok. I think. It's normal, really." She turned her head away from his hand, and took a deep breath. "I don't really eat anymore. I'm never hungry."

Steve watched her for a moment, then silently started in on his food. She gave him a glance that showed gratitude for letting the conversation fade away, and went back to playing with the fruit that she had no intention of eating.

They sat in silence, him eating, her not eating, a bubble of nothingness in a chattering mass of people. Finally, Riven said suddenly, "What's it like? Being in a time that is so different from what you're used to?"

Steve's blue eyes found hers, and she smiled at him tentatively, as though trying out the new expression for the first time. He realized then that for all her genius, Riven was really quite shy.

"It's weird," he admitted, and Riven's smile turned real.

"I bet," she replied, and Steve found himself smiling back at her. Riven's eyes widened slightly, and she giggled. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "You have salad in your teeth."

Steve slapped a hand over his mouth, feeling himself blush for the first time he could remember. Riven looked down, shading her eyes with long lashes, and he found himself unable to look away from her face.

His reverie broke as Riven offered him a toothpick from the jar in the middle of the table. Steve accepted with a smile that didn't show his teeth, and she laughed. After solving the salad problem, he continued their conversation.

"Before I was frozen, the world was at war," Steve told her. "I was a soldier, and I still am. I suppose I always will be. I was. . . the beacon. The emblem. My job was to inspire others, by doing what they could not. It was dark. Ugly. Bad. Really bad." His face was shadowed with remembering, and Riven reached out to touch his hand.

"I get it," she whispered, and Steve looked at her in surprise. The tip of Riven's nose turned pink, but she forged ahead, looking at his fingers instead of his face, counting the scars on his knuckles. "I'm the go-to. I'm their secret weapon. I want to be here, I do, but I. . . wish I could do more. And at the same time, I only want it all to go away. I can't believe the things they have me doing, but I can't stand the thought of stopping."

He was nodding, and she abruptly looked straight into his eyes, surprising him with the ferocity in her grey stare. "It isn't right," Riven said quietly, harshly. "I am a person, not a miracle machine. I should have a life, not a series of objectives. But I can't imagine doing anything else. I want to help. I want to make a difference, I. . ."

She hesitated for a moment, and Steve gently took hold of her hand. Riven drew in a quick breath, and focused on his blue eyes.

"_I want to change the world,_" she blurted, and he nodded.

"I know exactly what you mean," Steve said softly.

They stared at each other for a moment. Riven parted her lips slightly. He'd sought her out, but she had been longing to talk to him, and now she knew for sure what she had suspected. They were the same. Exactly the same. Riven was wonderstruck.

Steve finally looked down at her hands, and smiled a little. "Left-handed?" he asked, and she blinked.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

He glanced at Riven's bright grey eyes, and smiled wider. "Easy. Calluses on your fingertips, both hands, from typing. But only your left hand has smooth patches here, and here," Steve touched the skin on the sides of her knuckles, "From using a pencil or a pen. Simple."

She smiled at him. "Wow. That's smart."

Naturally, that was when his communicator chimed. Steve sighed a little, pulling his hands free of hers. "Yeah?"

It was Romanoff. "Cap, get down here. We're shipping out, there's a situation near Baton Rouge."

Steve glanced at Riven apologetically, opening his mouth to explain. She cut him off, smiling. "I heard. They're on the open channel."

"Ah. Be right there, Natasha." Steve closed his conversation, and stood, stretching. Riven watched him, still smiling a little. "You really should eat that," he added.

Riven watched him start toward the door, and then suddenly called, "Captain!"

Steve turned, caught off-guard, and she said, "Take care. All of you."

He smiled, saluted, and was gone.

**More reviews mean more chapters. Tell me what you think. K.S.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Day 2

**Short chapter this time, so sorry. There's more, though. Keep talking to me, people. **

**Disclamer: I own only Riven**

**K.S.**

Riven was crying.

Natasha Romanoff was holding Riven in her arms, cradling her friend's spiky head. Nat's eyes were soft with sympathy as Riven's body convulsed, knees jerking and feet kicking. Riven's eyes rolled back in her head and she gasped. Finally, the spasm ended and she blinked tear-bright grey eyes at Nat.

"Crap," she whispered. Nat stroked sweat-drenched black locks off Riven's forehead. Riven whimpered a little, and Nat hugged her closer.

"Did anyone see?" Riven whispered, and Nat shook her head, red hair swirling around her shoulders.

"No. You had the chat monitor turned off when it happened. I don't know how you managed to call me, but by the time I got here, I think you'd dislocated your shoulder."

Riven closed her eyes as her body spasmed again. "I hate these migraines," she breathed, swallowing a cry of pain.

Nat eyed her friend's shoulder. "I know. What did you land on when your legs gave out?"

Riven's head thrashed for a moment, and Nat tightened her grip, pinning Riven in place. Riven gasped, then clapped a hand over her own mouth to stifle a shriek. Nat gently stroked Riven's dark hair, eyes soft and face full of compassion.

Riven bit her lip until it bled, then took her hand away from her mouth. "I landed on. . . on the. . ." Her arm flailed, fingers scrabbling across the tiled floor of her laboratory, and for a moment Nat thought it was another spasm. Then she saw the blood smear on the leg of an overturned chair. Nat's mouth tightened, and she combed through Riven's hair, searching for the wound.

She finds it. Blood oozed from a cut on the back of Riven's skull. Nat winced, digging a napkin out of her pocket. She'd picked up several at lunch, and somehow this one had stayed with her.

Nat gently cleaned the bleeding split in Riven's scalp as the younger woman thrashes on the floor. Finally, Riven's body went slack, and she sighed soflty.

"You all right?" Nat asked.

"Yeah," Riven said softly. "I think it's over. Finally."

Nat shook her head, worried. "This is, what. . . the third in sixth months?"

Riven glanced away. "The fourth."

Nat's dark eyes widened. "When was the third?"

Riven bit her lip again. Hesitantly, she whispered, "Two weeks ago."

Nat closed her eyes. "Oh, no, _Riven._ When we were in Rome?"

She nodded. Nat helped her sit up, and hugged her hard. "I'm so sorry, Riv," Nat whispered.

Riven shook her head, and wished she hadn't. "It's not your fault," she said.

Nat held her at arms length, staring sternly into Riven's eyes. "They're getting worse, aren't they?"

Riven nodded. "I don't know why. Hell, I don't know why I have this kind of migraine in the first place. I've run every test I could think of, and I've got no answers."

Nat shook her head again. "Oh, Riv," she sighed. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. I still have to fix your shoulder."

Riven winced a little at the thought. Nat led her out of the laboratory and the doors hissed shut.

**Ouch, I'm such a mean author. How can I do this to my characters? Ch4 makes up for it, so don't hate me too much. Read and review, as always. K.S.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Day 3

**I'm back! Which is quite a trick, since I never left. The story moves on, and so must I. . .**

**Disclaimer: Only Riven belongs to me, though I'm sure she wouldn't be flattered to hear it.**

**K.S.**

Thor found her on the upper flight deck at three in the morning.

Riven was dressed in black slacks and a white blouse that almost matched her ice-colored skin, and she was playing with lighting. Riven had a lightning rod set up, wired into a set of speaker, a set of metal pipes, and a laptop.

It was raining buckets, and a warm wind whipped raindrops into Riven's eyes. She wiped the water off of her face, and typed for a moment on her computer. "Come on," she urged, "Come on!"

Lightning struck the rod, the metal pipes vibrated, and the first few notes of the Phantom of the Opera Overture echoed from the speakers. Riven punched the air in jubilation. "Yes!" Eyes sparkling, she jumped up and down for a few moments, then returned to typing. "Now, if I can just get a bigger strike, this might actually work."

Thor, standing behind her, asked, "What are you doing?"

Riven yelped in surprise, spinning around so fast that her hair slung drops of warm rain into his face. Thor blinked the moisture away, and Riven breathed, "_Yikes,_ you scared me. Um, I'm playing. Sort of. This is what I do for fun."

Thor tilted his head slightly. "You try to play music with lightning?"

Riven nodded enthusiastically, completely unselfconscious, wrapped up in her mini-miracle. "It's supposed to be impossible to catch enough continuous lightning strikes to play an entire piece of music. Of course, it's been done using Tesla coils, but I find it relaxing to try for a natural strike sequence."

She looked at him, and smiled. "Hey – do you think you could maybe suggest some tips for catching lightning? Since you probably know it better than anyone else."

Thor was captivated by her boundless energy, and her enthusiasm was contagious. When he'd come in search of the cause of lighting being pulled onto the flight deck, he'd never suspected the vivacious scientist would be out playing in the rain.

Thor smiled at her, and said, "I think I can do better than that, although it won't fit the scientific constrictions."

Riven shrugged, and wiped rain off of her face. She was completely soaked by the warm storm, but she didn't seem to have noticed. "That's fine. This is a hobby, not a study for documentation. I'm just having fun."

Thor lifted his hammer, and replied, "Then you should probably step back."

Riven's eyes went wide, and an uncontrollable grin spread over her face. "Would you really?" she whispered, and back-pedalled to a safe distance.

Thor was amused by her excitement. "Just watch," he whispered back, and swung his hammer in a quick circle, then lifted it over his head.

Lightning boiled out of the sky in a blaze of fire that lit the entire flight deck, casting Riven's face into relief as she stared in awe. Endless lightning flooded her comparatively tiny metal rod, and like magic, the Phantom of the Opera Overture crashed over them in a wave of intensely layered sound.

Riven shouted wordlessly at the top of her lungs, jumping up and down in sheer joy, hands clasped together like a little girl. Her smile lit up the night, bright as the lightning that burned in the sky. The music played through, and Thor dismissed the lighting, letting its energy dissipate through the clouds.

The flight deck was dark and rainy once more, and Riven was laughing in wonder. "That was _amazing!_" she exclaimed, running back to her computer to check the electronic records. Riven scanned the screen for a moment, shaking her head in amazement. She lifted her head, rain plastering her hair to her face, and stared at Thor with pure awe in her storm-colored eyes.

"You are officially cool," she said solemnly, and then burst out laughing again at the puzzlement on Thor's face.

He smiled, and said, "I'm glad you liked it." He'd never shown off for anyone, really. It was a serious business, being a demigod, but the way Riven lit up and glowed was more than enough to trade for a night of being ridiculous.

"Wow," she whispered, "Wow, wow, wow. I don't think I'll ever forget that, _ever._" Riven grinned. "And you know what? No one else heard a thing. The music can't penetrate the shielding, so we're the only ones who saw. It's like a personal miracle."

Abruptly, she stood and flung her arms around Thor's neck. "Thank you so much," she whispered. Thor blinked in surprise, but before he could do anything, Riven disengaged, looking up at him as she bounced up and down on her toes.

"You know," Riven said thoughtfully, "Most people are scared of you, because you're so quiet all the time. But, you're really nice. Just. . . quiet. I get that."

Thor was slightly taken aback. "You are very observant," he replied, scrambling for a way to catagorize this incredible individual that might make her make more sense to him. Thor was drawing a blank.

Riven shrugged, sweeping her dripping hair out of her brilliant eyes. "I get bored, so I analyze stuff. People. Behavior." She cocked her head to the side, and suddenly she looked like a little girl. Thor didn't know what to make of her.

Riven asked quietly, "When you fly, can you take someone else with you?"

Thor smiled. That, he understood. "Riven Lange, would you like to fly?" he asked.

She lit up again, shining like a star in the warm rain. "I would love to," Riven whispered.

He held out his hand, and Riven took it. Thor gave her a gentle smile, and swung his hammer, then leapt into the air, pulling Riven with him, up toward the storm-covered sky.

Riven was in heaven. The wind was making her eyes water, and it was cold, and she didn't care. Riven was flying. She'd wrapped an arm around Thor to keep from falling, and he was giving her the equivalent of the grand tour, up above the stormclouds where the stars shone bright.

"Wow," she breathed, and Thor glanced down at her. It was hard to tell from this angle, but Riven thought he was smiling.

"This is amazing. Even more than the lighting," Riven continued. Thor was definitely smiling now.

"I've always thought so," he said quietly.

Riven watched the sky in silence for a while, then said suddenly, "Drop me."

Thor looked down at her in confusion. "What?"

Riven repeated, "I want you to drop me. And catch me again, obviously. But I want to know what it feels like to _fall, _really fall, and know you'll be all right. To. . . fall without fear, I guess."

"Are you sure?" Thor had never heard so strange a request, but it would come from Riven if it came from anyone, and from what he'd seen so far, she'd love falling.

"Very." Riven nodded, and Thor said, "All right. I will catch you. I promise." And he let go.

Thor watched her fall, arms and legs spread out like a skydiver, black hair blown back. Riven vanished behind a layer of stormcloud, and Thor dove after her.

Riven was ecstatic. This was the epitome of every dream she'd ever had, except the one to change the world, but she wasn't thinking about that right now. Right now, she was in free-fall. Riven was having the best night in her entire life.

She dropped through a layer of warm, wet cloud, glimpsing the flash of lighting through watering eyes. She was looking down at the lights of the city far below. Riven didn't know which city, she had no idea where they were. It occurred to her then, a bit late, that the SHIELD ship was cloaked. She couldn't see it. Meaning, it was quite possible for Riven to splatter all over the flight deck.

That was when Thor caught her. It wasn't really possible to catch someone gently as they plummet through the sky, but he tried.

Thor's arm wrapped around Riven's waist as he knocked into her in a sort of controlled collision. She instinctively grabbed hold of him as he turned their plunge into a gentle curve that took them upwards again. Riven's eyes were wide in the dark, her face white as snow, and her smile was bright as the full moon.

Thor took her back to the ship. She wasn't sure how he found it, because Riven couldn't see it until they were standing on it, and then her knees almost gave out from the adrenaline rush. Riven wobbled for a moment, then regained her footing.

Thor was watching her quietly, and Riven turned to face him. "Thank you," she said sincerely, and stood on tiptoe to gently kiss his cheek.

He blinked down at her, and smiled a little. Riven smiled back, and made her way to the hatch back into the ship. Thor watched her go, dripping water as she went, looking for all the world as if she were seven years old.

Thor stood alone on the deck for a moment, then raised his hammer and shot skyward, disappearing into the clouds.

**Longer chapter this time, so there. Hope you liked it. I will eventually join all these together into a central plot, have faith. It just takes a little while to get there. Questions? Comments? Adulation? I can but hope. Let me know.**

**K.S.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Day 3

**The plot is slowly beginning to come together, and yes, I made up a bunch of new elements for this story. I am not a scientist, so I don't really care. Sorry for the shattered expectations.**

**disclaimer: I only own Riven**

**K.S.**

"So, I called you here to see if you guys could help me with some analysis that's been giving me fits." Riven reached up to the topmost screen, and transferred the data there to the screens in front of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. "The subject of these studies is, so far, a unique anomaly. The subject experiences extreme forms of migraines, with symptoms including seizures, muscle cramps, nausea, and loss of motor control. The subject also has unusual sleep patterns and dietary habits, as charted."

Stark scanned the pages, scrolling with a fingertip. "Wow. This is killer stuff."

Riven glanced at him. "Sorry?"

Stark didn't take his eyes off the screen as he replied, "Well, normally I'd say the seizures and cramping were caused by some sort of light reaction, like a strobe, because they trigger migraines. But the nausea makes that more complicated. And this says this guy only gets like, three hours of sleep a night."

Dr. Banner added, "And whoever they are, they don't eat nearly enough. Are there signs of the effects of malnutrition?"

Riven shook her head. "In every test I've tried, the subject comes out clean, perfectly normal. I'm stumpted."

Stark looked up and said, "You know, this really isn't my thing, but I'll give it a shot. This guy needs help."

Riven raised an ebony eyebrow. "Why do you think it's a man?"

Stark looked confused. "Are you saying it's a woman?"

She shook her head, hair falling in her face. "The subject prefers to remain anonymous. I was just curious."

Dr. Banner had been scrolling through the data, and said suddenly, "How old is this subject?"

Riven switched focus. "Uh, early twenties, why?"

Dr. Banner shook his head. "Because I ran the numbers, and this person should be dead by now."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

Stark and Riven gathered around Dr. Banner as he pulled the pertinent scraps of information together. "Look. They're not eating or sleeping enough to sustain a fraction of their body mass, never mind a normal, busy person in their early twenties. And the migraines should be related to that, but they aren't. If anything, the lack of sustenance and rest are making the migraines less frequent."

Riven said quietly, "I have noticed that pattern, yes."

Stark pointed out, "But it stopped working a month ago. This record shows the . . . person . . . eating even less, not sleeping at all for, like, three days at a time, and the migraines are more frequent, on average."

She shook her head. "Yeah, I saw that too. But. . . what does it mean?"

The three of them looked at each other. Silently, they separated to different work stations and began digging. After maybe half an hour, Stark said, "Hang on. Does this person have fear of needles?"

Riven looked up, startled. She blinked, pulled up a new window on her screen, and nodded. "Yeah, looks like it."

Stark asked, "Does it say why?"

The dark-haired scientist scanned the page. "Yeah. Childhood trauma. Someone tried to use them for. . . um, drug testing. Not the kind that you get over the counter."

Dr. Banner looked up, eyes sharp. "Trauma is a possible cause, but there are no connections to needles anywhere. Why did you ask?"

Stark shrugged. "I thought maybe they could be using something, or just royally wasted, but that's not likely, is it?"

Riven shook her head. "The subject is not capable of becoming 'royally wasted,' by the way. The file says that they retain every memory of their childhood incident, because the drugs didn't cloud their mind at all."

Dr. Banner shook his head and Stark winced sympathetically. "Ouch. So. . . you guys find anything?"

Riven shrugged. "I got nothing."

Dr. Banner looked back at his screen, but didn't say anything for a moment. Riven and Stark looked at him curiously. Finally, he said, "I think. . . I have something. It's hard to tell. It's related to the drug incident. The records on what the subject was injected with are very specific, which is fortunate. One of the stabilizer components used in an early mixture was Orthanium, which has been known to stay in the body for years, having relatively no effect except a slight increase in the production of white blood cells."

Stark asked, "But?" Riven was biting her lip, concentrating as she listened.

"But. . . Orthanium has no known reactants, which is why it can serve as a stabilizer. It's so non-reactive that it can mitigate the reactions of other elements. But what it. . ."

He trailed off, frowning as he scanned another page. Stark raised his eyebrows, impatient.

Riven's eyes were wide. "Oh," she breathed. "You think it might have reacted to something in the subject's body."

Stark blinked. "But it doesn't have any reactants."

Dr. Banner replied, "Any _known _reactants, yes. But this subject is exceptional. Following normal rules for normal humans, this person should by rights have starved to death, or at least suffered a fatigue coma. Neither of which have happened. And they aren't affected by chemical intake, such as alcohol. Something is very different about the subject, and maybe their body is producing a reactant to Orthanium."

He finally looked up from the screen, and shrugged apologetically. "It's a long shot, I know," Dr. Banner began, but Riven cut him off.

"No, no, it's the best lead we've got!" she exclaimed, whirling around to begin typing furiously. "This is good." Riven froze as her communicator chimed. "And that is not."

It wasn't just her; all their communicators had activated. "Stark, Banner, we need you down here ASAP," said Fury. "My apologies for stealing your research partners, Miss Lange, but the Avengers have a call."

Riven half-smiled, even though Fury couldn't see her. "Not a problem, Director." She made a little shooing motion at Stark and Banner, who nodded to her. Stark gave her a little wave, and they left.

Riven's eyes sparkled. "Orthanium," she whispered. "I've got you now. I can do this."

Then she froze. "Oh, _shit!_ " she exclaimed in horror. "I'm gonna have to do a blood sample!" she closed her eyes and slumped forward, her forehead resting flat on the countertop. "Crap!"

**Poor Riven. I am such an evil author, bwa-ha-ha. I'll leave you hanging for the time being, but I'm already busy writing more. Stick with me, people. And for the love of the characters, leave me a review. . . please.**

**K.S.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Day 3

**Ok, everyone, you have so totally made my week. I got on here a couple hours after I posted my beginning, and OMG, I have reviews! And people who like it! I jumped up and down and screamed for a while, then decided to thank you guys by posting the remainder of what I currently have written. As soon as I hit publish, I will start writing more. I love you all so much.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewers, Aileen Autarkeia and ACHound-Turhu. Thanks, you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I can't own the Avengers, as I quietly aspire to be Hawkeye some day.**

**K.S.**

"Wait. Why do you need me to do this?"

Riven looked at him desperately. "It's just a routine blood test, but I can't even _hold_ the needle, much less use it! Please, Hawk?"

Hawkeye gave her a very slight shake of his head, more to clear his thoughts than tell her no, and Riven bit her lip. He glanced up at her and sighed. "All right."

"Thank you!" Riven rolled up the sleeve of her lab coat, then hesitated. "Um. . . Hawk, I have a really, really bad problem with needles. I – I might try to hit you. Or something else bad. I'm sorry, if I do."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at her. "And you're doing all this for a routine blood test?"

Riven bit her lip again, drawing blood this time. Hawkeye reached out and gently laid his fingertips against her cheekbone, resting the pad of his thumb against her lips. Riven gasped a little, grey eyes wide, lips parting slightly at his touch.

Softly, Hawkeye said, "You'll be all right, Riven."

She blinked, once. It was the only the second time she'd ever heard him say her name, and it sounded different when he said it. Riven had to remind herself to breathe. "Uh. . ." There really wasn't much she could say at the moment.

He took his hand away, and Riven whispered, "Thank you."

Hawkeye smiled at her, just a little, and picked up the needle. Her eyes went wider still, and her pulse jumped. "Crap," Riven whispered.

His storm-colored eyes met hers, and Hawkeye said soflty, "Just look at me."

Riven breathed, eyes locked on his as Hawkeye carefully slid the needle into her arm. She gasped, body tensing, and he glanced at her. She gave him a shaky, scared smile.

When the blood started flowing out of her arm, Riven began to shake. She closed her eyes, whispering to herself. "It's ok, it's ok, it's not the same, it's ok, it's . . . _not ok._" Riven's eyes flashed bright, and her body shuddered, hard.

She knew that feeling. It was the beginning of one of her migraines. Riven's mind went white, trapped in the first moment of panic, in the terror that comes before action.

Hawkeye reached out and carefully stroked her hair with the tips of his fingers.

Riven went still, staring at him like a deer watches the hunter. She was trembling, tense, but as he repeated the motion, the fear drained from her eyes, and she sighed soflty.

Hawkeye checked the needle, then swiftly removed it from Riven's arm. She gasped as the needle slid free of her skin, and immediately grabbed her arm. "Ouch," she whispered, eye closed again.

He set the blood vial aside, and said quietly, "Riven."

Riven's gaze found him, and she offered a weak smile. Hawkeye said, "I think I owe you a drink."

She blinked. Riven didn't know what she'd expected him to say, but that wasn't it. "I think I could use a drink, Hawk," she whispered. He smiled again, and offered her his hand.

Riven took it, and he pulled her to her feet. Hawkeye handed her the blood vial, and Riven slipped it into her pocket.

"Thanks," she said quietly, and Hawkeye's eyes met hers, causing a small fluttery feeling in her stomach.

"Anytime."

**I know, it's short. I'll start writing immediately, promise, I should have a chapter up sometime tomorrow. Please keep the reviews coming, because they are pure joy to me. If there's anything you would like to see in this story, shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do. Love you all.**

**K.S.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Day 3

**Good morning, everyone. I stayed up late last night writing this for you, and I'm up early this morning to post it. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I'm too sleepy to own the Avengers. Only Riven is mine.  
**

**K.S.  
**

Riven couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so hard. She and Hawkeye had made their way to the bar that was reserved for off-duty personnel; hardly a problem for her, since she had no official duty hours. And they'd run into Steve and Natasha, somehow turning the whole thing into a giant de-stress party.

Riven sipped what she was pretty sure was a twenty-year-old whiskey. Hawkeye had insisted on buying it for her, and she really hadn't minded. He was sitting next to her, with Nat on her other side and Steve across from her. Thank goodness for circular tables.

Steve was telling them all about something that had happened to one of his army buddies, back in the Second World War It made Riven a little sad to think that all Steve's friends would likely be dead by now, but she tried to remember that he was part of the Avengers, and had a new team.

"So he's running through the halls, wearing not a stitch, looking for a towel, anything. And he runs smack into the CO, who is not known for having a sense of humor. What can he do? He stands at attention and says, 'Sir, I am glad to report the success of the new camouflage uniforms. They work so well that I can't find mine.'"

Riven nearly choked on the whiskey. Hawkeye smiled, and Nat shook her head, obviously repressing her laughter. Steve grinned, and continued. "So, the CO looks him up and down, and says, 'Good news is always welcome, soldier. I suggest you go find your old uniform.' And he walks away clean."

Steve shook his head. "I still can't believe he got out of that one."

Natasha smiled as she set down what Riven suspected was tequila. "Well, then there's what happened to me and Clint in Istanbul."

Hawkeye looked away, a smile tugging at his mouth. Riven looked at him with interest, using her elbow to dig into his ribs. "Oh yeah?" she asked, and he gave in to the smile, turning his head back towards her.

"Well – that was Nat's fault, entirely."

Natasha rolled her eyes, and tapped a long fingernail on the tabletop. "Please. You fell off a building. How is this my fault?"

Hawkeye only smiled, and Riven looked back and forth between them, waiting in anticipation. He shook his head at Nat, and she laughed before continuing. Steve just watched, blue eyes bright in the dim light.

"We were on recon, scoping out a target," Nat said, "And Hawk's on the roof, while I'm on the street. I'm talking to this little tiny old lady, and she's rattling on about how she can't find a husband for her daughter, and she keeps praying for her gods to send her a young man for her daughter to marry."

Steve laughed. "I can see where this is going." Riven smiled, and Steve glanced at her, noting how at ease she seemed, compared to their breakfast the day before. Then he looked at the drink in her hand. Ah. Of course.

Hawkeye shook his head in amusement as Nat continued, "I'm looking up at Hawk, and he's looking down at me, and there's a clothesline hooked to the roof he's walking on. This old lady is completely oblivious, chattering away, when Hawk trips over the clothesline. He grabs the line on the way down, trying to catch himself as he goes over the side, and it rips out of the anchor, so he's swinging toward us on a clothesline."

Riven lost it, laughing so hard her eyes tea red. The image was just too ridiculous. Hawkeye eyed her hysterics and rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Nat," he said dryly, and the Black Widow smiled sweetly at him.

"I haven't even gotten to the punch line yet," she replied.

"This lady is chattering at me, all about her prayers for a good young man to appear, and here's Hawk, falling out of the sky and demolishing the vendor's booth that we're standing next to. The lady flips out, and starts thanking every god she can think of for sending a husband for her daughter."

Steve laughed, and Hawkeye sighed. "Nat had to drop a carpet over the lady's head so we could get away," he finished for her. "I shudder at the memory."

Riven smiled at him, eyes sparkling into a dazzling array of various shades of grey. Hawkeye blinked, surprised.

Nat smiled at the others, and Riven said, "Well, I don't have any stories as exotic, but there was the time I built an actual volcano for my science class."

Greeted by interested expressions, Riven smiled, and continued, "Most kids do one with, I don't know, red jelly or something. I was eight, at eighth grade level, and I wanted to show that I deserved to be there. I collected samples of volcanic rock and managed to create a molecularly similar mixture, so we would have synthetic magma and an actual explosion." She glanced downward shyly, shading her eyes with long lashes, aware that every eye was on her. "So, um. . . magma is essentiall rock that's on _fire, _and my teacher was wearing this long coat that was way too flammable. . ."

Natasha covered her mouth to hide the smile, and Hawkeye snorted. Steve asked, "What did she do?"

Riven looked up with an evil grin on her face, abandoning all pretense of being shy. "Screamed. Took her coat off and danced around on top of it. Stamping out a fire is quite a trick in high heels. I got sent to the principal's office. They kicked me out, so I finished the year online."

Hawkeye shook his head. "Riven, you are a living marvel."

The tip of her nose turned pink. "Thanks, Hawk."

Steve stretched, lifted his empty glass, and said, "I'm off to get another of these. Anyone need refills?"

Riven shook her head with a smile, Nat asked for another tequila, and Hawkeye looked down at the container in his hand – Riven's pop-out margarita maker. "Maybe some cold water."

Riven stretched, still smiling. This was amazing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so relaxed. It was wonderful. Riven had been awed by Thor's lightning strike, and then the flying, _wow,_ but this was different. Quieter.

Normal.

She blinked at the thought. Riven was anything but normal.

And as if in response to her last thought, Riven felt a familiar grinding sensation in her neck, and she went white. _Shit. Not now!_

It was too late for that. Colored lights began to pulse behind her eyes, and Riven panicked. "Uh, I hate to leave so soon, but I think I should head for bed. Nat, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Later on, she would regret using that for an excuse. But for now, it got her away from a suddenly frowning Hawkeye, and a returning Steve. Riven wove her way through the bar, pausing at the exit. Nat followed her, worry lining her face.

Riven and Nat locked eyes, and the younger woman whispered, "Another one."

Nat's eyes widened. "So soon?" she asked, concern making her voice higher than usual.

Riven nodded, then put a hand to the side of her head. "Ouch," she breathed. "I'm going to bed, really. Stay a little longer, so they don't suspect anything."

Nat eyed her sharply. "If you pop that shoulder out of joint again, I will strap you to your bed."

The spiky-haired scientist smiled weakly, and left. As soon as Riven was in the hallway, she broke into a run, gasping as a wave of dizziness sent her staggering. _Ow. . . oh, no, no, no. . .oh, ow. . ._

Nat returned to the table, forcing a smile. "Girl talk, nothing to see here."

Steve raised an eyebrow, but Hawkeye's slight frown remained. He saw better from far away, and he had seen what looked like very real fear on Riven's face. And her excuse didn't fool him for a second.

He knew she didn't sleep. So why had she left in such a hurry?

There was something Riven wasn't telling him. And Hawkeye didn't like secrets.

**Hmm, the drama. It's getting closer. . . and closer. . . and I'm not going to tell you what 'it' is. Wait and see. And review.**

**K.S.  
**


	9. Chapter 9 - Day 3

**Hey everyone. I noticed some typing mistakes in my last few chapters (cringe), so I'm being more careful now, sorry about that.**

**This chapter is for SNICKERDOODLE. Thanks for taking the time to tell me how much you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Only Riven is mine.**

**K.S.**

Riven breathed. That was all she could think of, was making sure she kept breathing. Her world was nothing but agony, flashing lights, screaming voices, thrashing convulsions. Nat's hand over Riven's mouth was all that held back Riven's screaming.

Natasha was on the verge of full-scale panic. She'd never seen Riven have a migraine this bad. The younger woman was thrashing wildly, left hand gripping her right shoulder to keep it from dislocating again. Riven was gasping and moaning and occasionally shrieking. Her eyes were open, but stared right through Nat.

Riven's eyes saw, but not Natasha. She saw lightning, and stars, and neon lights and flashing computer screens and laughing faces. Riven made a small noise like an animal's cry of pain, and Natasha gently brushed black hair out of Riven's face.

Riven could see . . . something. She didn't know what. But she needed to talk to . . . someone . . . someone specific. . .

She couldn't remember . . . couldn't think. . .

Natasha held Riven down as her body convulsed. The Black Widow caught her breath as Riven's eyes focused for the first time, and she said in a clear whisper, "Hawk."

Nat blinked. _What? _"Riven. . ."

But the moment had passed, and Riven went limp, gasping for air as her body trembled. She stared up at Natasha, gaze blank but focused, seeing but not reacting.

Natasha jumped as someone knocked on the door to Riven's rooms. "Shit," the red-head hissed, and looked fiercely at Riven. "Stay put," she ordered, and was relieved to receive a weak smile in response.

Nat made her way to the door through the clutter that made up Riven's living space, and without opening the door, called, "Who is it?"

"Clint. Nat, what's going on?"

She closed her eyes. _Shit!_ Of all the people to come check on them, why her partner? Nat couldn't lie to Hawkeye, he knew her too well, they'd worked together too long. He could see right through her.

"Riven's sick. I think she drank too much. She's really not up to talking to anyone right now." Nat opened her eyes and silently hoped that Hawkeye would believe her.

She was answered by silence for a handful of heartbeats, and then he said, "I'll talk to her later, then." Nat couldn't hear his footsteps, but she was almost sure Hawkeye had walked away.

Natasha went back to Riven, whose shaking was under control now, but she was white as a ghost, with dark circles under her eyes. Those eyes were wide with alarm as Riven grabbed her friend's wrist.

"Nat – I don't get drunk. _Ever._ Hawk knows that."

The older woman frowned. "Really? I had no idea. This isn't good, then."

"Understatement of the decade, Nat." Riven closed her grey eyes, sighing as she sank back into the bed. "Ugh. I feel like I was thrown out of a moving car."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You were. Twice."

Riven rolled her eyes. "Not recently." She sighed again, and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Natasha shook her head.

"No way, Riven. You are not getting up yet. Not for at least another hour, you need to sleep."

The dark-haired woman shook her head, blinking away the urge to moan from the resulting ache in her neck. "No. Nat, I don't sleep. I'm fine. I need to. . . I need . . . well, I don't really know. But I have to _do _something! Lying in bed trying to sleep is just going to make me crazy. I need to move. I need to think. I have to get back to work."

Natasha shook her head, red hair swirling around her shoulders. "Riven, I don't think,"

Riven cut her off. "Nat! I'm close to figuring out why I have these attacks, and I have to keep going. I've never had two so close together like this, I have to run the numbers and find out _why_."

The Black Widow, international assassin, was no match for Riven's earnest grey stare. "Fine. But you do have to sleep sometime tonight."

She nodded. "I promise." Natasha watched Riven stand, eyeing her critically. Riven smiled at her, brilliant and fragile, and left. Nat shook her head.

"Oh, Riv," she muttered. "One day you're going to be so busy saving the world that you won't have time to save yourself."

Outside in the hall, Riven was frantically searching the pockets of her white lab coat. Finally, she found what she was looking for. "God! I thought I'd lost it there for a minute."

Riven squinted at the blood vial in her hand, and addressed it sternly. "It put me through a lot of trouble to get hold of you, so don't disappear before I can run my tests," she instructed. Putting the vial back in her pocket, Riven headed off in the direction of her lab.

From his perch on a support beam overhead, Hawkeye watched her go.

**I know, it's short. I'll have another one up later today. It's getting closer. . . closer. . . maybe even in the next chapter. . .**

**Read and Review! - K.S.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Day 4

**Wow, I'm up to ten chapters. Go me. A big thank you to all me readers, and two for all my reviewers. I've been updating this a lot, but tomorrow is Monday, and I have school. So my updates probably won't be quite as frequent. Don't worry, I left myself a margin. I have more for you.**

**To ACHound-Turhu: Oh, you noticed. Excellent. ;)  
**

**Oh, and the mysterious 'it' I've been talking about? It's in this chapter. XD Bwa-ha-ha!  
**

**Disclaimer: I own Riven, and nothing else.**

**K.S.**

Bruce Banner was eating breakfast when Tony Stark sat down across from him. Dr. Banner looked up in surprise. Stark was frowning at a hand-held computer.

"Hey, Doc, take a look at this," Stark said, sliding the computer across the table.

Banner blinked, and swallowed. "I'm eating breakfast."

Stark gave him a look that said quite plainly, _Yeah, I noticed._ "I know. This is important."

Banner sighed and set down his fork, pulling the computer towards him. His brown eyes widened. "What is this?"

Stark picked up a piece of toast from the doctor's plate and examined it critically. "Riven updated the logs for our 'subject.' Apparently they had a migraine last night." Deciding the toast was probably not toxic, Stark took a bite out of it.

Banner ignored the theft of his toast, and said in puzzlement, "These readings are off the charts. What happened?"

Stark shrugged, his mouth full. "No idea," he mumbled.

Dr. Banner gave him a mildly disgusted glance, and asked, "Have you seen Riven at all today?"

Stark shook his head, and Banner frowned. "I was looking for her earlier, and called her." He indicated the communicator behind his ear. "She said she was in the middle of something delicate and couldn't let anyone into her lab at the moment."

The millionaire raised an eyebrow, and swallowed. "So? She does that. Riven's the techno-genius, remember?"

Banner's dark eyes were worried. "I know. But . . . she sounded wrong."

Stark snorted. "She _sounded _wrong? Doc, we've known this chick for, what, three days?"

The doctor shook his head. "I know. I know! I can't explain it. I think there's something she's not telling us."

Stark's face grew serious. "I know. Look," he turned the computer back toward him, "She said she logged all the test results, but there's one missing. See, there's no record of –"

He was cut off by the sound of an alarm, blaring through the entire ship. Stark froze. "Uh-oh."

"I believe that's an understatement," Banner replied, and a second later, their communicators chimed.

"Tony Stark! Get your armored butt up here and do a fly-by for me!"

He looked at Banner. "Well, we know where Riven is."

10 minutes earlier.

Riven had been in her lab all night. She hadn't lied to Natasha, though; she did manage to sleep, for about five minutes, curled up on the floor waiting for a diagnostic to finish. Riven was absolutely bursting with energy, practically vibrating as she worked half a dozen monitors.

She scowled at a screen. "No, no! That can't be right." Riven tapped the screen and slung the data over to a different monitor, rapidly rearranging molecules. "It's supposed to look like that."

Riven paused, and stared at what she'd done. "But now I have all these leftover elements . . . _what are they?_"

She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair, which did not help at all with Riven's general air of untidy brilliance. "Ok, ok, take it easy, Riv. We can do this. We can do anything. I just have to . . . to. . ."

Riven smacked herself in the forehead. "No! God, how did I miss that?" Just as she started opening a new window, a screen across the lab began flashing red.

"What?" Riven scrambled across the pristine lab, skidding a little. Someone had mopped the floor again. She hated that. Riven tapped the screen, pulling up diagnostics and running system checks.

Her eyes went wide and she whispered, "What? No. Who could possibly . . .?"

Riven said hastily, "Command, Fury. Director, we've got ourselves some incoming." She ran for the door, and then for the bridge.

She heard Fury's voice as she elbowed her way through unfortunate staff. "I don't read anything on the radar."

Riven made a rude gesture at a particularly stubborn group of mechanics, and scrambled around them, reaching the bridge doors as they hissed open for her. "That's because I didn't use your radar. I used mine, and it's not radar, its better. We definitely have incoming. Lots. I just can't get a solid read."

Riven waved bridge crew out of her way, and when they didn't move, she fumbled in her pocket, producing an ID. They moved, and she started typing.

"I don't think," Fury began, and then the rear portside engine exploded.

Riven threw herself into motion, whipping back and forth between stations, rerouting power, stabilizing lift, and otherwise containing multi-layered chaos as alarms rang throughout the ship.

"Command, All," she muttered. "Tony Stark, get your armored butt up here and do a fly-by for me!"

Riven checked another monitor, and moaned. "Ugh. Ok, everyone else, get up here too. We got trouble."

Fury walked up behind her. "What's happening, Miss Lange?"

She waved a hand at him. "I'm busy, Fury, talk to a flunky."

He raised an eyebrow. Riven sighed and rattled off, "We have enemy fighters out there, armed with what looks like our own tech. They just blew the rear portside engine, and I still can't track them."

"Why not?"

Riven paused to enlarge a view on a monitor. "Captain, Nat, you've got personnel trapped down the corridor to your right." She spun around and typed a command into a computer. "Fury, I don't know why we can't see them. Heck, I don't know why they can't see us."

Stark commented over the open channel, "Sounds like the same question, really. Ok, I'm out here, and yeah, that engine's toast. Whoa! Hey, Riven, something just backwashed me. I think it's one of those fighters you can't find. It was headed for the other rear engine."

"_Crap!" _Riven scrambled across the bridge, narrowly missing Fury. "Same question – same answer! They're using my cloaking tech!"

Banner asked, "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know! Where are – never mind, I see you. You and Thor are about to have problems."

As if on cue, the rear starboard engine blew out, immediately followed by the front starboard engine. Riven froze. "I can think of a word for this situation, but I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to say it," she whispered, and then straightened. "OK, guys, listen up. We're pretty much done for, so I'm pushing the metaphorical big red button, immediately followed by evac. Stark, you need to cut power."

"You do realize I will fall like a rock?"

"Exactly. Trust me; you don't want to be around when I trip this failsafe. As soon as I tell you, power up again. If I'm right, this will make those fighters visible . . . and us as well." Riven looked at Fury, suddenly unsure.

The Director gave her a silent nod, and she took a deep breath. "Ok, hang on everyone. This system was never meant to be used, but here we go. Stark, drop."

"Dropping uncomfortably fast now."

Riven nodded, oblivious to her surroundings. She flipped a switch on the control board, opened a window on a monitor, scanned her fingerprints into it, and spoke.

"Engage emergency cloak-killer, passcode 99312468RK2."

The ship shuddered. Riven closed her eyes and counted to ten. Her eyes snapped open. "Stark, power up! Avengers, get the hell out of here!"

Riven slammed her hand down on the emergency evacuation signal, and bells began to ring all over the ship. She sighed a little and looked at Fury. "We're in evac, and we're visible," she said softly, her shoulders suddenly slumped. "I. . . I have to go get something from the lab. Then I can go."

Fury nodded to her. "Make sure you get out safe, Miss Lange. And – good work."

Riven offered him a sad smile, and jogged away towards her lab, melting into the crowd of evacuating employees.

**Ooh, cliffhanger. I apologize for that. I should have another chapter up sometime tomorrow afternoon, or evening. We're just getting started. Do tell me what you think.**

**K.S.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Day 4

**Hey everyone! You're in luck, I finished school early today, so I'm putting up a new chapter. I'll write some more once I've added this, hope you like it. Things are getting a bit exciting, no?**

**Disclaimer: I'm too cool to own anything but Riven**

**K.S.**

Hawkeye was two floors below Riven's lab when she told them to leave. He was pulling the last of half a dozen injured out of an air vent that had been exposed when the shock of the explosions cracked open the floor of the corridor. The irony did not escape him.

Neither did the memory of Riven's voice the first time they'd really talked. _'I created this ship, Barton, she's my baby.' _Hawkeye glanced upward. She wouldn't leave. Not in time.

Hawkeye began to move, fast, weaving through evacuating staff, vaulting fallen bits of the ship's construction. He made his way to the doors of Riven's lab, and paused at the iris scanner. "Command, Riven. Let me in."

Her voice came back to him as she spoke to the security system. "Open lab doors, authorize by voice match."

The doors hissed open, and Hawkeye darted inside. "Riven! You called the evac – now get out of here."

Riven was running back and forth between screens, pressing keys and issuing over-rides. "Leave it," Hawkeye insisted, and grabbed her right arm.

Riven yelped in pain, and he jerked his hand away, shocked. She looked at him for the first time, grey eyes wide with fear. "Sorry. I – that shoulder is really sore." Riven spun back to her monitor.

Hawkeye said quietly, "Riven."

She ignored him. The ship shuddered again, something else exploded, and the whole ship began to tilt to starboard. Riven yelped again, grabbing the counter to stay balanced. Hawkeye gave up.

"Sorry," he breathed, and threw her over his shoulder.

"_Hey!_" Riven barely managed to snatch up a diamond-shaped computer chip as Hawkeye ran out of the lab, carrying her. "I wasn't done there!"

"No, you were about to be done, permanently. We have to go."

He was right, of course, but she wasn't willing to admit it. "I can walk, Agent Barton," Riven said stiffly.

Hawkeye set her down, and gripped her left shoulder, staring into her face. "You follow me. Step for step, every second, you _follow._ Got it?"

Riven nodded silently, marveling at the colors in his stormy eyes. Hawkeye turned, and began to run. She followed, silent, clutching the computer chip so hard it cut into her hand, just the two of them, sprinting through the now-deserted hallways.

"Hawk, where the hell are you?" It was Captain America, and he didn't sound terribly happy. "We're holding the last jet, but we're sitting ducks out here. Stark can't hold these guys off us for much longer."

Hawkeye glanced over his shoulder, and Riven gave him a small smile. She was scared, he could tell. But more sad than anything else. Her greatest creation was being destroyed around her, and maybe a little bit inside her as well. "I'm coming. I've got Riven."

"She ok?"

That was Natasha, and Riven answered, "Yeah, fine. But I need to work out more if I'm going to make a habit of running for my life."

Stark broke in with, "Hey! Hurry up! I'm getting scorched out here!"

Hawkeye said, "Almost there," and they rounded a corner, finding the doors to the flight deck in front of them. He punched the open button, and the doors stayed closed. Riven scrambled up beside him, and said breathlessly, "Master over-ride, open doors. Authority Riven Marie Lange."

The doors opened. Hawkeye gave her a single, unreadable glance, and said, "It's no man's land out there. Stay right behind me, and if I stop, keep going. Now _run!_"

They moved. Riven could barely breathe, she had never run so hard in her life. Grey eyes moved fast, taking in absolute chaos. Iron Man streaked across the sky over their head, a pair of sleek fighters on his tail. Riven drew a quick breath, indignant. That was one of _her _designs! SHEILD hadn't made it yet, because of resource issues, so how had someone else put together one of _her _ships?

"Riven! Drop!"

Hawkeye's voice caught her attention, and she collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Something flashed by her, and Riven realized with a start that Hawkeye had fired over her head to take out a missile trained on the jet that was their destination.

Then he was pulling her to her feet, and they were sprinting as though the world was coming apart around them, which, in a way, it was. Riven wasn't sure exactly what Hawkeye was doing, since he was now a half-step behind her, but an awful lot of things were blowing up in the sky. They were so close, she could see into the jet now, Dr. Banner was watching them come, worry in his face. Riven supposed he had to be in human form to fit in the plane.

She heard a whining noise, and looked up in time to see a hail of bullets fired from an enemy fighter, barely a second before Iron Man lasered through its engine housing and it exploded. Riven's world froze for a moment, and then she heard someone yell her name.

"Riven!"

Hawkeye tackled her, sending them both rolling up the back ramp of the jet, into the middle of Captain America, Dr. Banner, and Thor. "Go!" Someone was yelling, and Riven wasn't sure who. _"Go, go, go!"_

Riven gasped in air, realizing that she was flat on her back with Hawkeye on top of her. She looked into his stormy eyes, and was promptly breathless again.

"You all right?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. You?" Riven could feel his arms tight around her, and remembered him slamming into her and pulling her head into his shoulder as they tumbled across the metal deck. _Breathe, Riv. Breathe!_

"I'm good." He let her go and stood, moving up to the co-pilot's seat. "Nat, how are we?"

"Not good," Natasha answered, as Dr. Banner helped Riven to her feet. Captain America gave her a worried look, and she smiled for him, planting herself in a seat and strapping in. She didn't know how to be useful here; she was completely out of her league. Riven would have to settle for being quiet and unobtrusive. Riven glanced at Thor, and found his impossibly blue eyes looking back at her. She gave him a tiny smile, and looked down at her feet.

She felt the g-forces shove her back in her seat as the jet launched off a sloping runway. Riven thought of her ship, falling, alone and empty, and the impact it would have on the world it crashed into. _Goodbye,_ Riven thought sadly, and bit her lip, hard.

"Hey, guys!" Stark was flying cover for them, and his suit was smoking somewhere it wasn't supposed to. "We're not clear yet! Heads up!"

**Cliff-hangers are my friends, bwa-ha-ha. Well, maybe just bwa. The rest is irrelevant. I'll probably have more up by tonight sometime. Let me know what you think.**

**K.S.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Day 4

**Ok, here we go, chapter 12. It's fairly intense, is it not?**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven**

**K.S.**

"Break evasive!" Natasha yelled, and the fighter spun, fast, diving at it went. Hawkeye was wrestling with the controls, trying to get the missiles off their tail.

Nat called, "Stark, can you shoot those things off us?"

"Trying to! Nearly getting shot myself! You do know you have three bad guys on your tail?"

Captain America looked at Thor. Thor looked back, and nodded once. The demigod stood as Captain America said, "Natasha, can you drop the ramp for a few seconds?"

Hawkeye answered. "Yeah, but it'll wreak havoc on our flight pattern."

Riven had been sitting still and silent, watching with wide eyes. But this made sense to her; she'd designed missile tracking programs, she knew how they worked. She drew a breath, and said, "That could be a good thing. Our next move would be completely random, and might throw off the tracking computers in the missiles."

The Avengers who were free to look around looked at Riven in surprise, apparently having forgotten she was there. Well, that was her intention. Up front, Natasha was nodding.

"That could work. And it's not like we have a better option. All right, Thor, you have four seconds to bail, and we're not going to be able to pick you up again."

Thor nodded, gripping his hammer and facing the ramp. "Ready," Hawkeye called.

Riven caught Thor's eye. "Good luck," she whispered.

"Go!"

The ramp dropped, and Thor vanished into the blue sky. A moment later, the ramp was closed, and the demigod was on his own.

Riven watched as Natasha and Hawkeye glanced at each other, and wondered what had just passed between them. Riven bit her lip. Nat and Hawk were partners, and Riven had never had a partner; never had someone to understand her and look out for her, or trust her just on principle. Nat was a wonderful friend, Riven's first real friend, but it just wasn't quite the same.

Riven shook her head. _There are more important things to think about than your messed up life, Riv. _Like the safety of the Avengers, and in connection, herself.

Not that she could do much about that.

Thor's voice came in over the communicator. "The missiles are gone, but these enemies refuse to cease their attacks."

Iron Man joined in. "No kidding, I'm down to half power just trying to keep you guys from getting blown up. Whoever these creeps are, they're pretty good at what they do."

_Which, unfortunately, is trying to kill us, _Riven thought. _Lovely._

Stark yelled, "Look out!" And something in the back of their jet blew up.

Nat and Hawkeye fought with the controls as lights flashed. The jet spun, executing a jerky turn as Natasha regained some control. Hawkeye caught her attention, and said softly, "Nat, we have to set down."

"I know." The red-head scanned the radar screen. "But we can't exactly land in this condition; it's going to be more of a controlled crash."

Hawkeye smiled. "Controlled? You're being optimistic."

Riven's heart sank. "Um, this jet will float, if there's water nearby." She bit her lip again, hoping that helped some. She felt so useless compared to the Avengers. They were superheroes, after all. And Riven was just . . . a person. A _weird _person, but a person.

Captain America glanced at her, worry in his face, and Riven instantly felt worse. She wasn't just a person, she was a liability. They had to look after her.

"Actually," Nat said, "I think there's a lake over there. Can you guys see that?" she addressed Thor and Stark.

"Yes," Thor replied. "To your right. Starboard?"

Stark said, "I don't care what you call the directions if you guys just land already, because we can't keep them off you much longer. Whoever designed these fighters used re-routing circuits, so Thor's lightning has absolutely no effect."

Riven's nose turned pink. "But _how?_" she whispered.

Dr. Banner glanced at her. "How what?"

She swallowed. "I designed them. Someone took my blueprints and built the fighters that SHEILD wasn't ready to create. I don't think we can do much against them. But there's a flaw in the engine housing, if they're using my original plans."

Stark spoke again. "Yeah, I noticed that. Unfortunately, my laser beam is busted. I don't have enough power to use it."

Riven closed her eyes.

Captain America leaned over Hawkeye's shoulder, scanning the ground below them. "All right, put us down on the lake."

"Copy that," Natasha muttered, and they dove.

Riven could never remember their landing very well afterwards, although she was sure that it could have been better described as a crash. They were moments away from hitting the lake and hopefully skidding to a stop in the water, when another missile blasted through the forest around them and took off the left wing of the jet. There was a lot of yelling that Riven couldn't make out, and a horrible scraping sound as they missed the water and struck rocky ground.

Riven vividly remembered looking out the cockpit and seeing a rapidly approaching rock face. Then they hit something, probably the rock face, and what was left of the jet flipped. Riven lost the air in her lungs as she slammed into the harness holding her into the seat, and fear flooded her mind as Dr. Banner and Captain America were sent tumbling.

Something smashed into the side of her head, and Riven saw – green? She realized with a sick feeling in her stomach that Dr. Banner was no longer present. The Hulk had arrived.

When the chaos settled, Riven was hanging from her harness, strapped into a chair that was now on the ceiling. The Hulk's transformation had ripped open the back of the jet, but she saw no light anywhere. Riven couldn't find the Hulk, either. Before today, she never could have imagined misplacing the Hulk, of all people, but it seemed natural now.

Captain America was lying in a heap on the new floor, and Riven couldn't see into the cockpit. She eyed the ground below her, and hit the release on the harness. Riven landed on her feet, but her knees crumpled beneath her, and she ended up on her hands and knees.

Riven took a breath, and stood, balancing on the curved ceiling of the jet – which was now the curved floor. She didn't like being upside-down, it was much too confusing. Riven crouched down by Captain America, looking for injuries before she moved him. Unable to see any, she carefully turned his head toward her.

"Captain?" she whispered. Riven didn't know why she was whispering, but after the insanity and noise of the crash, she didn't want to break the dark silence that filled what was left of the jet. Another of her creations, destroyed. _Focus, Riv!_

"Captain?" she said again. He wouldn't wake. Riven chewed on her lip for a moment, and decided to leave him for the time being. She made her way to the cockpit.

The front of the jet was entirely buried in rock and earth, and Hawkeye and Natasha were both unconscious. This irritated Riven. "Why leave me awake?" she muttered. "I'm only the one least prepared to handle this situation, that's all."

She glanced at Nat, who didn't have a mark on her, then caught her breath as she looked at Hawkeye. He hadn't strapped in when they took off, and he was lying in a corner. There was blood on his face.

Riven swallowed the fear in her throat, and knelt down. She quickly found the source of the blood; Hawkeye had a cut on his temple. She sighed a little, relieved. "It's nothing much," she breathed. "Head wounds always bleed a lot."

Riven gently settled Hawkeye's head in her lap. "Come on, Hawk," she whispered. "Wake up. I need your help."

He stirred a little. Riven watched with worried grey in her eyes. "Please wake up."

He opened his eyes. She drew in a quick breath. Hawkeye stared at her for a long, blank moment, and then let out a long, slow sigh.

"Riven," he said quietly. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I'm fine," Riven replied. "The Hulk is around here somewhere, but not in the jet . . . or what's left of it. Nat's strapped in, unconscious, but looks all right. The Captain got tossed around a bit, um, kind of like you, and I can't get him to wake up." She paused. "And you have a cut on your temple. It's bleeding, kind of a lot."

Hawkeye looked at her again, and ran a hand over his face. It came away smeared with red. "Ah. That explains why you look like you're expecting me to die in a few seconds."

The tip of Riven's nose turned pink. Hawkeye gave her a smile, and sat up, slowly. Riven watched anxiously. "You all right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Hawkeye blinked a few times. "A little dizzy. I'm fine." He looked around. "All right. I'll try to get the Captain awake, you handle Nat. I wouldn't stand too close when she wakes up, though."

Riven nodded. She had no idea how to handle this, and was feeling much better about the situation now that someone who knew what they were doing was awake. And it didn't hurt that that someone was Hawkeye.

Riven carefully unstrapped Natasha, awkwardly lowering the red-head to the floor. "Ok," she breathed. "I can do this." Riven glanced toward Hawkeye, who was crouched down by Captain America.

Riven gently shook her friend's shoulder. "Nat," Riven said softly. "Nat, wake up."

The red-head came awake in a blur of motion, hands moving too fast to follow. Riven, who was prepared for this, had fortunately dodged behind Nat's chair. Natasha blinked, looked around, and focused on Riven. "Oh. Hey. Sorry, Riv."

She smiled. "It's fine."

Hawkeye called, "I think I got him." Riven looked quickly towards the sound of his voice, and Nat caught the emotion that went through the younger woman's eyes. The red-head smiled a little, and followed Riven toward the back of what used to be the jet.

Captain America's eyes were open, but not exactly focused. Riven and Natasha joined Hawkeye, who was asking, "You all right?"

The Captain blinked and said, "I think so. Ow. Yeah, I'm good."

Hawkeye glanced at his partner. "Nat? What about you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Clint? I'm fine. There's blood all over your face."

"I know." Hawkeye grabbed Captain America's hand, and pulled him into a sitting position. The Captain blinked again, and then shook his head a little.

"Ok," he said. "I'm good. Now what?"

It was a very good question, Riven decided. They were buried under a pile of rock on one side, and while the back of the jet had been ripped away by the Hulk, it was filled with dirt and rock.

_Now what, indeed?_


	13. Chapter 13 - Day 4

**I have officially had a Monday, even though it's Tuesday. At last, I have defeated the homework demons and am able to post the next chapter! And then write. **

**At about 2 in the morning last night, I woke up with a feeling of impending doom, and realized I'd written myself into a problem. So I tossed my plotline up in the air and let the events re-arrange themselves on the way down. Yes, it will still make sense. Don't worry. I might be going a little bit crazy, but that's nothing new.**

**To the anonymous reviewer who disagrees with me about hands: all I can say is that your hands are very different from mine.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**K.S.**

It was a good thing Riven liked the dark, because they'd been sitting in it for the last half hour, and it didn't look like they'd be getting out of it any time soon.

Captain America was still examining the landslide that trapped them in the remains of the jet. Natasha was meditating, and Hawkeye appeared to be asleep.

Riven was thinking.

They hadn't been able to move the boulders out of the back of the jet without more earth cascading in on them, and soon the rocks were too big to move anyway. They seemed to be well and truly trapped, as the cockpit hatch wouldn't open. They couldn't get power to the lights. They had no supplies with them, because everyone had been too busy to grab anything during the attack.

Everyone but Riven. She looked down at the computer chip in her hand, its corners smeared with blood where it had cut into her palm. Everything was on that chip. _Everything._

She only hoped she would get the chance to use it.

Captain America finally gave up on the rockslide and sat. Riven met his blue eyes and gave him a small smile. It was all she had to give at the moment.

Natasha called softly, "Riven."

She looked up, and then made her way over to the red-head. Riven sat, awkwardly arranging her limbs. She didn't like sitting on a curved floor. It just wasn't comfortable.

Nat said quietly, "Riven, do you think. . ." she hesitated, and then laid a hand to the side of her head.

Riven got the message. She shrugged. "Not right now, anyway," she whispered back. "I don't know when the next one will be."

She paused for a moment, glancing at Hawkeye. "Nat, he knows something's wrong," Riven breathed.

Natasha's eyes were dark. "I know. I just don't want to wake him up, since he has trouble sleeping."

Riven smiled a little. "He's not sleeping. He's thinking." She looked back at Hawkeye. There was still blood on his face, and Riven suddenly wanted to wipe it away with her sleeve. She looked down at her feet, breathing deeply.

Natasha looked at her partner, then at Riven, then back again, and hid a smile. "I can't tell the difference sometimes."

"Thanks." His eyes opened, and Riven's gaze flicked back to him. Hawkeye sat up, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on a chair. Riven caught her breath when he looked at her, and she glanced away, suddenly nervous.

Hawkeye raised a hand to rub the dried blood off his face, and then paused. "Communicators," he said.

Captain America looked up. "What?"

Natasha blinked. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

Riven bit her lip. She'd forgotten, too.

"We haven't had them long enough to get used to them," Hawkeye said. "Riven, will the signal work through rock?"

She nodded. "Even through lead."

Captain America said clearly, "Command, Avengers plus Riven. Can anyone hear me out there?"

There was a long heartbeat of tense silence.

Then Tony Stark's voice reached them. "Cap, you about gave me a heart attack! My suit's down to minimal power, and I completely forgot that my communicator is a separate system. Man, where are you guys?"

Natasha replied, "We're not sure. We tried to put down on the lake, and got hit by another missile. We're buried under a bunch of rock, with no power."

Thor spoke, making Riven sigh with relief. She knew in her head he was a demigod, perfectly capable of taking care of himself – but to her, Thor was so out of place in this world that she would always worry about him. "I believe I can see you. There is a large rockslide on the lake shore."

Stark said, "Oh, yeah, you're right. Ok, guys, sit tight. We might be able to get you out."

There was another pause. Captain America began pacing, which really only took him three steps in each direction before the floor curved too sharply for his height. Natasha stretched, bending her body into positions that Riven couldn't imagine being able to do.

Hawkeye sat cross-legged, eyes closed. Riven knew he wasn't meditating, or sleeping, so she didn't know what he was doing. At a loss for something to do, Riven stood, shaking her hair out of her face.

It took her a moment to realize that Hawkeye was watching her. Riven bit her lip. She really hadn't intended to go anywhere when she stood, but she had to do something now.

Riven crossed the space between them, and sat beside Hawkeye. She couldn't quite make herself look at him, a little afraid of what his stormy eyes would show.

After a moment, Hawkeye said quietly, "What aren't you telling me?"

Riven glanced sideways at him, startled by the intensity in his stare. "Nothing of consequence," she whispered.

Hawkeye shook his head. "That's a matter of opinion, and I don't agree."

Riven was saved from having to answer him by Stark's voice. "Ok, get as far forward as you can. The Hulk's going to dig you out, but it's not exactly a finesse operation. So there might be some rocks dropping in with you."

"Copy that," Captain America replied. Hawkeye stood in a single motion, leaving Riven in awe of his coordination. She'd always been clumsy. He held out his hand, and Riven took it without hesitation, letting Hawkeye pull her to her feet.

She followed Natasha into the cockpit, very aware of Hawkeye behind her. Captain America packed in behind them. The cockpit was designed for two people, sitting down, and right-side up. It was a tight fit.

"We're good," the Captain said, and was answered by the sound of rock shifting above them. Metal creaked, and Riven bit her lip. They could hear earth moving and the sound of rocks clattering together, and then abruptly there was daylight.

Riven turned her head away from the light that blinded her, and found herself nose-to-nose with Hawkeye, their faces barely inches apart. "Um," she breathed, and he smiled, eyes bright as he looked at her.

Then a gigantic green hand appeared in the back of the jet, and simply swept away the remains of the landslide that had trapped them. "Ok, we're clear," Captain America called, and carefully made his way across the jet to the new opening. He squinted up into the daylight, and hauled himself out.

Hawkeye held Riven's gaze for a moment longer, and then followed. Riven automatically moved with Natasha, making her way out of the jet that had saved them from the attack. Her heart was racing, and for the millionth time, Riven had to remind herself to breathe.

Riven blinked rapidly as she emerged into the sunshine, eyes watering. The Hulk loomed over them, huge, and so very green. She hadn't really noticed that the first time she'd seen him, but then, she'd been pretty busy. Tony Stark, not wearing the Iron Man suit, was standing in front of them, with Thor to his left.

"Hey, guys," Stark greeted them. "Walking around in my suit when it's on minimal power is kind of like wearing a backpack full of bowling balls, so I shut it down for the moment. Until I can find a power source, I'm pretty much just a normal, devastatingly handsome guy."

Natasha rolled her eyes, and Riven smiled. Thor's eyes found her, and she offered a little wave. He gave her a small smile in return. Hawkeye was scanning their surroundings, his bow hand twitching a little.

"Where are we?" Thor asked, and Riven looked around at the blank faces, her heart sinking. This wasn't good.

That was when they heard the stutter of machine-gun fire.

**I'd like to offer a large thank you to ACHound-Turhu, for making me laugh when I read the reviews. Ok, people, talk to me. What do you think?  
**  
**K.S.**


	14. Chapter 14 - Day 4

**Hello, all. Today I defeated the PSAT, and am celebrating by writing several chapters very quickly. And dancing to my writing music. Which is mostly ****_Lightning _****by The Wanted. Great song.**

**To CKid032393: You really can't tell? Wow. Guess I'll crank it up a notch. **

**Look out below - cause here we go. ****_( _****If ****_you can identify the song that came from, I'll laugh really _****hard.)**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven, and now a doughnut.**

**K.S.**

"Down!" Captain America yelled, and a moment later there was a scream of metal as his shield deflected the bullets. The Hulk roared, standing to his full height and searching the trees for their attackers. The Black Widow crouched, ready to move. Thor lifted his hammer. Hawkeye knocked an arrow. Tony Stark took a step forward, looked down at his distinctly un-Iron Man self, and swore.

Riven, having nothing else to do, had run a few numbers in her head, and triangulated the location of their attackers. Hesitantly, she reached out and tapped Hawkeye on the arm. He looked down at her and blinked. Riven silently pointed into the trees.

He gave her a quick smile, and called, "Over here," before firing into the forest. The Hulk roared again, and Riven shrank back against the rock where she had hidden from the bullets. She stared up at the Hulk's fury, remembering the very first time she'd seen him. _Whoa._

Then the Black Widow passed Riven at a run, and the dark-haired woman blinked. She'd never seen her friend fight before, and was blown away by the sight of the Black Widow in action.

Riven had lost track of the others, but when a bolt of lightning cracked down out of a previously clear sky, she knew Thor was in trouble. She bit her lip, painfully aware of the fact that she could do absolutely nothing to help . . . could she?

She glanced at Stark, who had ducked behind the other corner of the rock that was her sanctuary. He was staring into the forest, a mix of conflicting emotions on his face, frustration being the most obvious. Riven bit her lip. An alternate power source . . . surely she could do that, at least? But without her lab, she had nothing to work with. Not even Riven could build a safe power source out of nothing.

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the rock, listening to the sounds of her friends fighting. _I wish I could do something . . . anything. . ._

Abruptly, a hand closed around Riven's arm, and she gasped, eyes opening to stare into Thor's face. He pulled her to her feet. "Come. We must retreat before we are overrun."

Captain America's voice was clear over their communicators. "Agreed. There are way too many of these guys for us to handle right now. And I don't know what exactly they're shooting, but it packs a punch."

Riven winced. "Probably more of my designs," she said apologetically. "I really don't know how anyone could have taken them."

"No time for that now," Natasha said breathlessly. "Thor, get her out of there, we're coming in behind you."

Stark stood, glancing over his shoulder toward the sounds of fighting, somewhere in the trees. He swore again. Thor held out a hand to Stark. After a moment's hesitation, the millionaire took it.

"Hold on," Thor warned, and Riven knew what was coming. She grabbed onto the demigod's arm as he took off, and then they were flying again.

She didn't enjoy it nearly as much this time. Being shot at will do that.

Well, and having Stark yelling in her ear. Riven did her best to ignore him. Apparently he didn't like flying all that much when he wasn't the one in charge.

Thor set them down on the other side of a ridge, heavy with trees, and gestured toward a dense stand of pines. "There is a cave system in there," he told them. "I suggest you conceal yourselves in it for the time being." And he left, vanishing over the top of the ridge.

Stark said in disbelief, "He wants us to hide in a hole?"

Riven looked at him and shrugged. "Well, until we find you another power source. And I'm absolutely no use in this situation."

"Just do it," Captain America said. "We're coming over the ridge behind you, and while it's rather difficult to hide a Hulk, the current plan is to disappear until these guys give us some breathing room."

Riven firmly gripped the arm of an un-convinced Stark and led him through the trees. They found the entrance to the caves easily; a large opening cavern that rapidly shrank down to a more manageable size, and should hold all of them.

Stark looked around at the inside of the cave. "The big guy might actually fit in here."

Riven wasn't as optimistic. Hiding a Hulk was, after all, practically impossible. And she just couldn't get over the fact that someone had stolen her ideas, designs that were supposed to help make the world a better place, and used _her _work to attack her friends. Silently, Riven sat down against the cave wall and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Stark paused in his examination of the rock around them, and crouched down next to Riven. "You all right?" he asked.

She didn't have to answer, because Hawkeye's voice came over the communicator as if he was standing next to them, making Riven jump.

"Keep your heads down, we're coming in fast. If we're lucky, they'll blow right by us, but it'll only take a few minutes for them to figure it out."

Riven's eyes flicked to the front of the cave. "We might only need a few minutes," she said. "The sun's going down, and we'd be harder to find in the dark."

"Well, we aren't exactly inconspicuous at the moment," Natasha said dryly, and Riven smiled, thinking of Thor's red cape, Nat's black body-suit, and Captain America's bright colors. Then, of course, there was the Hulk. There really wasn't a lot anyone could do about that.

A moment later, the Black Widow appeared in the cave's main cavern, sprinting full out into the back chamber, where Riven and Stark were waiting. There was blood on Nat's face and hands, but she didn't appear injured.

She was followed by Thor and Captain America, almost at the same time. The soldier had a bloody scrape down one arm, but didn't seem to be favoring it at all, and the demigod was untouched, except perhaps for wilder hair than usual.

Riven bit her lip, waiting. For a long moment, there was no one, and then Hawkeye dropped down from above the cave, landing in a crouch and then running in to join them. A second later, the Hulk appeared eyes wild, and somehow managed to fit inside the large opening cavern.

Riven's grey gaze followed Hawkeye as he knelt, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing to normal. He reached over his shoulder and selected an arrow, knocking it in a motion so practiced that he didn't bother to open his eyes.

The Black Widow touched Riven's arm, making her jump. Riven offered a small smile, and whispered, "I'm fine. Really." Nat raised a red eyebrow, but said nothing.

Then they heard engines coming over the ridge. They all froze, holding their breaths, waiting for the inevitable attack.

It didn't come. Their attackers went on down the ridge without stopping.

Stark let out a sigh. "What exactly are these guys?" he demanded.

"No idea," the Captain replied. "There are a lot of them, and they aren't just using automatic weapons. They've got some kind of hand-held energy pulse cannon, and a couple of snipers, although they've almost certainly moved by now."

Riven shook her head. This was beginning to irritate her. "I think I know what the pulse cannon is, but it's not supposed to be operational by any standards. The feedback in the current stage should fry any electronics that get too close, excepting ours, since I made them."

Thor looked at her blankly, and asked, "How do we stop it?"

She shrugged. "If they've fixed the electronic problem, they've probably eliminated the possibility of a resonative backwash loop . . . so basically just flatten it." Riven glanced at the Hulk, who growled a little, seeming to like that idea.

Natasha said, "This is all well and good, except that we need to move, and we still don't know where we are."

Riven's eyes flicked toward the red-head, and she ventured, "Well – I think we might be in Acadia."

Painfully aware that everyone was looking at her, Riven continued, "I got a pretty good look around when Thor took us over the ridge. I know the layout from aerial systems testing I did once. I really think we're in Acadia National Park, but I can't be completely sure."

Captain America replied, "It's better than nothing. We can't lead these maniacs toward innocent bystanders, so we'll have to go in deeper. Which way?"

Riven bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "North." She gestured. "That should take us into the mountains, through the foothills."

The Captain nodded. "All right. The sun just went down, so we should be marginally harder to find." He glanced down at his brightly colored uniform and smiled a little. "Move fast. Hawk, you stay with Riven and Stark. Natasha, you're with me. Hulk, Thor, you're in the back. If you think we've been seen, light 'em up. And everyone, try not to get shot."

**Hmm, more fun for the Avengers, although less so for dear Riven. I'll give you a hint about the next chapter: Riven's left shoe plays a critical role, which was my mom's idea. Thanks. **

**Tell me what you think! I love reviews!**

**K.S.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Day 4

**Hi, everybody. I was a bit disappointed when I got on here today and I didn't have any reviews for the last chapter. But then, people are people, and all of us are buys, I know. So you'll just have to make it up to me by reviewing this chapter instead.**

**Oh, but I do want to thank Audrey White for reviewing previous chapters.**

**Since I'm sure you're all wondering what Riven's left shoe has to do with anything, I'll let you find out.**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven**

**K.S.**

Riven decided that she really wasn't all that fond of combat situations.

True, she wasn't actually doing any of the fighting, but sneaking through the dark and hoping no one would notice them was not her idea of fun. Especially since they were playing hide and seek with heavily armed opponents.

The Hulk, for all his size, was amazingly quiet as they crept through the forest, freezing every time a twig snapped. Riven didn't know exactly where they were headed, but then, neither did anyone else. She only hoped she'd been right about this being Acadia, and that she hadn't accidently steered them straight into a suburb.

Riven remembered all too well the chaos in New York when the Avengers had taken down Loki and his army; she didn't need a repeat on her conscience.

"On your left," Hawkeye breathed, and Captain America raised a closed hand. They all froze. Hawkeye very slowly raised his bow, sighted, drew back the knocked arrow – and fired.

The tiny glint of light in the trees vanished. "You got him," Natasha whispered. Captain America waited a few more seconds, then waved the group forward.

Riven wasn't very good at sneaking. She kept stepping on things, or almost tripping. Twice now, Stark had needed to grab the back of her coat to keep her on her feet.

Thor was bringing up the rear, just behind the Hulk. Acting on Riven's suggestion, he'd taken off his red cloak for the time being. Captain America had used the first mud they'd encountered to camoflouge his brilliant stars and stripes. Natasha had tied her red hair up in a tight bun.

Riven stepped on another branch, and froze as the sharp _crack_ echoed. She silently cringed, wishing fervently that she would never, ever do that again; because each time she did, Hawkeye looked back at her with an unreadable expression on his face. And Riven was pretty sure he was thinking about how useless she was.

After a heart-pounding moment of panic, the Captain waved them forward again. Riven took a step, and felt cold air on the bottom of her foot. She looked down, startled, and realized in a sort of panicked horror that her left shoe had come off.

Riven opened her mouth to ask Stark to pick it up, but she was too late. Stark tripped spectacularly over Riven's lost sneaker, falling flat on his face and snapping half a dozen branches at the same time.

For a single, shattered instant, all was still as Riven and the Avengers stared at each other in horror, with Stark still on the ground. Then a searchlight beamed out of the trees and pin-pointed them, exposing them to anything their enemies could aim and fire.

"Hulk, Thor, now!" Captain America yelled, abandoning stealth entirely. "Everyone else, _run!"_

Stark scrambled to his feet and took off as Hawkeye grabbed Riven's arm and pulled her along with him. Riven gasped for air, quietly resenting the wild terrain, which included some fairly sharp rocks. _I really am making a habit of running for my life, _ she thought. _I don't particularly care for it._

Behind them, the Hulk roared and lightning flashed. Something burst into flame, and then there was a burst of blue light. "Plasma cannon," Natasha hissed. "Hulk, find it and smash it before they blow Thor out of the sky!"

The Hulk roared again, making Riven wince. Maybe she should put a filter on the communicators so that roaring was automatically transmitted at a lower volume.

Then she remembered that she was sprinting through Acadia in the dark, with only one shoe. Riven would consider herself lucky to ever see a lab again, much less modify their communicators.

Abruptly, Hawkeye pulled her to the ground, and Riven heard bullets scream through the air over her head. She stared at Hawkeye, gasping for air, unable to break his stormy gaze. He smiled at her, and in a quick motion, reached out and gently touched her cheek with her fingertips.

Riven forgot to breathe.

Then Hawkeye was pulling her to her feet and they were running again, and Riven was left wondering. _What just happened? And what did it mean?_

Captain America called, "I found a dry river bed we can use for cover, temporarily. We're going to have to cripple these guys to get out of here, but I need a minute to think."

"Copy that," Natasha said quickly, and Hawkeye added, "We're right behind you." Stark was with Natasha, and Riven saw them disappear over the rapidly approaching bank.

A few seconds later, they reached the edge, and Hawkeye didn't wait for Riven to clumsily navigate the drop; he wrapped an arm around her waist and jumped. It was maybe five feet down, no problem for him, but his arm was all that kept Riven on her feet.

Bullets ate into the bank they'd just cleared, and Hawkeye dropped into a crouch, yanking Riven down beside him. Her arm was getting sore, but she was a bit touched that Hawkeye had been pulling on her left arm, not the right one that she'd told him hurt a little, back in her lab. Riven had no idea how he'd managed to remember that.

Lightning cracked through the sky, and the thunder covered the sounds of the Hulk and Thor returning. The Hulk simply stepped over the river bed, crouching on the other side. His huge form loomed over the others as Thor landed lightly. His armor was smeared with blood, and he was breathing hard. "We destroyed the energy weapon," Thor reported.

"What's the plan?" Stark asked, and Captain America opened his mouth to answer, but didn't get the chance. There was a sound of gunfire, and Riven ducked as the Captain lunged forward, deflecting the bullets with his shield.

"Hey!" Riven said idignantly. "Why are they shooting at _me?_"

Hawkeye put a hand on her head and pushed as more shots rang out, Captain America moving closer and angling his shield over their heads. "Stay down," Hawkeye said fiercely.

"I don't get any flatter, thank you very much!"

"Your coat," Natasha said suddenly. "Riven, take your coat off."

"I – what –" Riven's protests were ignored as Hawkeye quickly stripped Riven's white lab coat off of her. Her hand darted into a pocket and snatched out the diamond-shaped computer chip, just before Hawkeye stuffed the coat into the mud at the bottom of the river bed.

Almost immediately, the bullets stopped coming. After a moment, the shooting resumed, but on a much wider range, searching for an adversary instead of targeting one. "Good call," Stark breathed. "Wow."

Riven bit her lip. She loved that coat. "Hell with this," she muttered. "You guys want to take them out? Those are my upgrades they're using to reload quickly. Those designs aren't ready to operate yet. There's a flaw in the chamber. Every second round takes an extra second to fire. If my numbers are right, we'll have snipers there," she pointed, no longer caring how much trouble they were in. Riven was absolutely sick of being shot at, scared, and hunted. This was not her job. "And there. Maybe over there, although that one hasn't fired yet. They're probably scattered from here," she gestured into the forest around them, "To here. I'm sure they're trying to flank us, but that's not my area of expertise."

Riven glanced at Captain America, who gave her the first real smile she'd seen on his face since the night they'd spent telling stories. "You're right. They'll be coming around on our left. All right, everyone – you heard the lady. We have to do some damage this time, agreed?"

Everyone nodded, then paused as Riven slipped off her remaining shoe, and held it up to the Hulk. He blinked at her, taking the shoe, which looked absolutely absurd in his huge hand.

"Why?" he rumbled, and Riven's eyes widened a little. Then her face hardened, and she replied.

"Because these idiots stole my work, attacked me and my friends, and it's their fault I'm stranded in Acadia in the middle of the night without my coat or shoes. So you take that sneaker, find whoever looks like they're in charge, and hit him in the head with my shoe."

The Hulk smiled. Riven smiled back.

"Ready?" the Captain asked, amusement rich in his voice. "Hawk, stay put; you cover us, Riven, and Stark. Natasha, you're with me. Thor, aerials, wreak havoc. Hulk – well, you've already got your orders.

"Let's go."

**Wow, it just keeps getting more intense, doesn't it? Well, hang on tight - you ain't seen nothing yet. ;D**

**Now leave me a review, or I might delay the next chapter by a day or two. . .**

**Nope, I'm not above blackmail. Normally people love to talk about themselves, so open up and tell me what you think already!**

**K.S.**


	16. Chapter 16 - Day 4

**Hello everyone. I have had the school day from hell, no exaggeration. My Algebra argued with me, I tied the delicate threads of themes and motifs in an irrevocable knot, and while writing my decade summary, I mixed up 1914 with 1904. When I finally got the numbers straightened out, I felt just like Riven - I wanted to jump up and down and scream "I get it!"**

**So when I got on here and saw that Audrey Whyte and ACHound-Turhu had left me reviews, I felt much better. Thanks, guys. Oh, and about that big reveal - it's coming, but I had no idea that it would take me this many words to get to it.**

**I must also state that 8 favorites and 18 followers to this story is absolutely mind-blowing. Many thanks.  
**

**Hang on tight - this chapter is not for the faint of heart.**

**Disclaimer: Riven is mine, and so is a much needed cup of tea, but nothing else.**

**K.S.**

Riven crouched in the river bed, quietly freezing. Acadia was _cold, _especially at night. Without her coat. Or her shoes. Standing in the mud. Oh, joy.

Hawkeye was amazing. She watched in silent awe as he aimed without even looking at his targets. Once or twice he fired without bothering to turn his head. Riven, the eternally scatter-brained, couldn't imagine being able to do something so incredible.

Naturally, she didn't think that keeping up with the Avengers and occasionally contributing something useful was incredible – Riven thought it was a miracle.

Stark touched her arm. "Hey, Riven – is something moving over there?"

She turned to look, squinting into the trees. Riven's eyes were a bit dazzled from the lighting and explosions that brightened the forest in front of them, and identifying movement in the darkness was difficult.

But. . . "Yeah," Riven said. "I think you're right. Hey, guys? How many snipers are accounted for?"

Thor answered, "Two. Why?" accompanied by a sort of sizzling noise. Riven winced. She'd recognize the sound of machinery being electrocuted anywhere.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "Give me a minute." Riven squinted into the dark.

_There were three snipers, I was sure . . . _she was about to say Hawkeye's name and bring it to his attention, when a branch swung to the side on a pine tree, and Riven saw in horror the barrel of a sniper rifle. She turned her head, tracking the sighting . . . and saw a red laser dot dancing on Hawkeye's back.

_"Hawk!_" For the first time in a long time, Riven took no time to think. She just moved, slamming into Hawkeye's back.

Riven never could describe exactly what it felt like to be shot. It wasn't quite like anything she'd ever felt before, although it was rather similar to the time she'd been caught in the side by a piece of flying glass. That had been in New York. She remembered because it was the first time she'd ever seen Hawkeye, who was now holding her in his arms and shouting at her. She couldn't understand what he was saying. His eyes were frantic, desperate. Riven blinked, and heard Natasha's quiet, "What happened? Clint?"

But it was Stark who answered, in a shocked voice. "Riven's been shot."

_Captain America was wading through men in black armor, smashing them aside with his shield when he heard Riven ask about the snipers. A second later he heard her scream Hawkeye's name, and then the archer was shouting._

_ "Riven! Riven, no, look at me, __**Riven, **__come on, look at me. . ."_

_ Natasha's fear was clear in her voice. "What happened? Clint?"_

_ Stark answered, sounding more horrified than the Captain had ever heard. "Riven's been shot."_

_ Steve's world slowed down, then stopped altogether. He saw Riven, laughing as she told him he had salad in his teeth, shining as she talked about accidentally setting her teacher's coat on fire. Riven? No. They couldn't lose Riven._

_ He wouldn't lose Riven._

_ The world snapped back into focus, and Captain America went berserk._

_ The Black Widow caught her breath, horror plain on her face. She saw Riven when they'd first met, nervously asking if she could sit down at Nat's table. She saw Riven as the younger woman fought migraines, writhing and gasping in Nat's arms. She saw Riven smiling at Clint, tentative but right on the brink of discovering something she wanted very badly._

_ No._

_ Natasha Romanoff had lost too many friends over the years. She wouldn't lose Riven._

_ The Hulk roared so loudly that the men who had been trying to shoot him dropped their weapons and covered their ears. The Hulk smashed them aside, staring down at the shabby red sneaker that Riven had given him, so tiny in his hand. _

_ For a moment, he hovered on the brink of transformation as Banner's memories overwhelmed him – Riven, flitting from one monitor to another, chasing improbable leads and turning them into scientific facts. She was so good; bright and vivacious and charmingly scatter-brained._

_ The Hulk shook his head and screamed his fury into the darkness, staring into the eyes of the black-armored man who held a radio, giving orders. The man froze, and the knowledge of his own death was plain on his face, right up until the moment when a worn red sneaker took his head off._

_ Thor almost fell out of the sky. He had to perch in a tree for a moment, shaking his head so hard he saw stars. But they only reminded him of other stars, up above the storm clouds where Riven had stared around her in joyful amazement._

_ He saw her jumping up and down and screaming in happy wonder as his lightning played opera music for her. He saw her drenched with rain, falling through the sky with an ecstatic smile as he caught her._

_ Thor stood, and leapt into the sky, swinging his hammer. For Riven, the forest would burn._

_ Stark forgot to breathe, staring at Riven as she lay still in Hawkeye's arms, blood soaking into her shirt. He knew that somehow, this was his own fault. He should have seen the sniper earlier. He never should have run out of power for his suit. None of this would have happened if he'd been able to fight._

_ "Riven's been shot," he breathed._

_ Stark couldn't get himself to move, even though he wanted to. He didn't know what he would do, or where he would go, but he wanted to run, to fly, far away, where the memories of Riven's bright smile and madcap inspiration couldn't haunt him. He wanted to nuke the whole forest, incinerate every instant that had passed since Riven had been safe._

_ He closed his eyes._

_ Hawkeye had heard Riven cry his name, had started to turn, had felt her slam into him. He'd felt the bullet enter her body, felt her give a little jerk and go limp._

_ He'd moved like never before, putting an arrow through the sniper's eye socket and catching Riven as she crumpled. Hawkeye dropped his bow and sank to the ground, cradling her in his arms as her brilliant grey eyes began to dim. _

_ "No! Riven! Riven, no, look at me, __**Riven, **__come on, look at me. . ." Hawkeye stroked her face with his fingertips, brushing spiky black hair out of her face. Riven's eyes brightened a little._

_ "Ouch," she whispered._

_ Hawkeye made a sort of gasping sound, and she frowned. "Easy, Hawk. I think I have dibs on unhappy noises, don't you?"_

_ He shook his head, speechless, and pulled her closer, cradling Riven's head against his chest. Staring into her eyes as blood soaked through her shirt, Hawkeye breathed, "Hang on, Riven. We're going to get you out of here. You're going to be all right. I promise. I won't let you go. I promise."_

_ Riven breathed in his arms, in and out, slow. He felt her lay her hand against his chest, felt her blood soaking into his shirt. "Ok, Hawk," she whispered. "Just don't let go."_

_ Hawkeye held her close, bowing his head so his lips were pressed against her hair. "I promise," he whispered. "I promise."_

Riven was dizzy. Really dizzy. And her ribs hurt, almost exactly where they had when she'd gotten hit with glass shards, a year ago in New York. It felt different this time, though – more fire.

It hurt. A lot.

Riven decided to ignore that for the moment, rather like she was ignoring the sickening feel of her own, warm blood oozing all over her front. She didn't like that at all.

"Hawk," she whispered. Her head was resting against his chest, her nose not quite touching his shirt.

He shifted a little, arms tightening around her, lips moving against her hair. "I'm here."

Riven knew that. It was rather difficult to not know that, in her current position. Wait. What was her current position?

It didn't matter.

She could hear voices. That wasn't a good sign. No, it was a good sign – it was the other Avengers, on the communicators. It took too much effort to make out the words.

Then they were moving. Hawkeye stood, and began to run with a gentle rocking motion that was remarkably soothing. Riven almost closed her eyes, then remembered that she wasn't supposed to do that. She'd been shot, after all.

"Um . . . where are we going?" she managed.

Hawkeye replied, "We're moving. Thor found an overhang higher in where we can shelter and take care of you. Between Natasha, Captain, and the Hulk, those guys down there are seriously hurting. They'll probably leave us alone for a bit."

"Ok. . . "

Riven sighed a little, and forced her eyes all the way open. _Focus, Riv. Recite the periodic table of elements._

By the time she'd finished silently counting off the names and numbers, Hawkeye was gently laying her down on the chill stone, cradling her head in his lap. Riven had no idea where they were now. Not that it mattered.

Next thing she knew, Captain America was kneeling next to her. "Easy," he said softly. "I have to bandage this, or you'll bleed out."

"That wouldn't be good," Riven said. It certainly didn't sound good. She didn't quite understand why Hawkeye looked at her like that. Oh well. Nothing she could do about it right now.

Captain America carefully peeled back her bloody shirt, not raising it any more than he had to. Riven sort of lost track of things once he started in on her wound; she got dizzy again.

"Ow," she complained, and Hawkeye began stroking her hair. Riven heard a ripping sound, and saw Natasha handing what used to be her sleeve to Captain America, presumably to be used as a bandage.

Riven didn't really know what happened next; the next time she was clear on events, Captain America was talking to Thor and Stark in a quiet voice, and the Hulk was standing over Riven and Hawkeye.

"Hi," she said softly.

The Hulk made a sort of rumbling noise, and held out a giant green hand. Riven very slowly, shakily, raised her own hand and laid it in his. The Hulk made a very quiet growling sound, and Riven smiled at him, just a little. He opened his other hand, and showed her a red sneaker, now stained a rather darker shade of crimson. Riven's smile grew a little stronger.

"Thanks," she breathed. The Hulk managed a smile for her, and left. Riven looked up at Hawkeye. His stormy eyes were dark and sad.

"Hey," she said quietly. "Don't worry about me. I have no intention of dying in your arms. It's entirely too cliché."

Hawkeye smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"No problem," Riven sighed. "I swear I am having the worst day ever."

**The end of this chapter is a little shaky, but that's because I got kicked off the computer. I'll probably put up a new chapter some time later tonight, assuming I get another one written. I do try to maintain a margin, just in case I ever don't get to write for a while. **

**For now, I'll just sit back and wait for the outraged reactions while I finish my chemistry. Don't worry - that big reveal is getting closer all the time.**

**K.S.**


	17. Chapter 17 - Days 4 and 5

**Afternoon, everyone. I realize it wasn't fair to leave you with that last chapter, so I'm giving you another one. I'll probably even have one up this evening, because I wrote about five chapters this morning. The plot is coming together rapidly. . . hang on tight, because my science sucks, but my plotlines rock.**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven. And a cute cat.**

**K.S.**

Riven tried standing a little later, when Hawkeye wasn't quite so obsessively protective. Not that she minded, not really, but she did want to be able to move her foot before it fell asleep without Hawkeye telling her not to move in case she re-opened the wound.

She wasn't very good at standing, not at the moment. Riven's knees wobbled for a moment before she got her balance. Hawkeye's hands on her shoulders helped her keep her feet.

Riven took a quick breath, and smiled at him. "I'm ok, really," she told him, for at least the eighteenth time. "I think I'm just going to sit."

Hawkeye didn't reply as he helped her ease to the ground, but the look on his face told her quite clearly that he didn't believe her for a second. Riven put her back to the wall of the rocky overhang, and glanced up at him.

"Hawk, seriously. Stop hovering. I just need to breathe for a minute. Go convene with the others, or something."

He stared at her for a moment, silent, his face unreadable. Riven reached out and laid both her palms flat against his knees, giving him a gentle push. "I mean it. _Go._"

Hawkeye crouched down next to her, and stretched out a hand, gently stroking along the line of her cheekbone with his fingertips. "Just for a few minutes," he said softly.  
Riven gave him as bright a smile as she could manage, which was very bright indeed, since Hawkeye's fingers were trailing along her skin. "I'm not going anywhere," she replied.

Finally, Hawkeye moved off toward the others, who were gathered around Captain America as he drew a map in the dirt. Thanks to an almost full moon, there was just enough light to see what they were doing.

Riven thought, _It's a good thing I don't sleep, or I'd have passed out by now. _But no sooner had she contemplated sleep than she was hit with a wave of exhaustion. _Ah. Right. The body's healing process. I need rest, even though I wouldn't normally._

She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again as she wrapped her arms around her legs with a small shiver, tipping her head back to look up at the stars. Riven couldn't see much of the sky around the rock overhang, but the stars she could see sparkled brightly at her.

Riven sighed. _What's going on? Who's attacking us? And how did they get their hands on my tech? I would've bet anything that we weren't compromised . . . and it's looking like I would have lost that bet. That's the only thing I can think of. How else could they have gotten so many of my designs? But only the ones that we weren't actually using. At least, not actively. Most of them aren't ready to be used yet._

_ So, maybe electronically compromised? My system can be hacked, of course, all systems can, but my firewall is unique. In order to break it, you have to have a massive amount of energy in your processing system. The only way to take down my security would be if your tech was hooked up to, I don't know, another Tesseract, or a continuous stream of lightning bolts, or the sun itself. I don't know what else could create that much power, but none of those options are viable. I know Thor would never use his powers for anything like that, and of course there's no other way to run a continuous stream of lightning, or I would have found it by now. . . _

Riven blinked as Hawkeye sat down next to her. "Hi. Done already?"

He nodded. "It's not much of a plan. But it's what we have." Hawkeye turned his head to look straight at her.

Riven was quietly proud of the fact that she could hold his stormy gaze, which she had once been afraid to meet. But that night in the air ducts was a world away. Riven cringed a little, thinking of the loss of her favorite creation – the SHIELD ship.

"You all right?" Hawkeye asked.

She nodded. "Just cold."

Hawkeye moved without hesitation, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her snugly against him. Riven sighed as she relaxed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm actually sleepy," she murmured, feeling his smile.

"You've had quite a day," he replied.

"Two days . . . almost. . ."

Riven fell asleep.

**Day5**

When she woke, Riven was lying on the ground with Hawkeye next to her. His arm was still wrapped around her shoulders, and she was turned toward him, not quite on her un-injured left side, her head pillowed on his chest.

Riven stirred a little, breathing in his familiar scent and smiling. She felt Hawkeye move beneath her as he asked, "Awake?"

"No, I'm still sleeping."

"I never would have guessed." Hawkeye sat up, lifting her with him so Riven was sitting next to him. "How are you feeling?"

She stretched, and then winced. "Ow. Fine, if I don't do that. I feel . . . ready. To do something. I'm not sure what."

Hawkeye reached out and brushed black hair out of her face. "Good. We're moving in a few minutes. We didn't want to wake you, since you don't sleep much."

"At all," Riven corrected. "Until recently, I'd gone almost four days without sleep, except for a few minutes waiting for a diagnostic. I felt better when I didn't sleep. But I'm really glad I slept just now."

She glanced around. The Hulk, who didn't fit terribly well under the outcropping, was sitting just outside, camouflaged by trees. Captain America was talking quietly with the Black Widow. Stark had just finished building three stacks of pebbles, and was now throwing more pebbles at them. Thor was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Thor?" Riven asked, running a hand through her hair.

"About two miles up, last time I checked," Hawkeye replied. "He's trying to find out more about the guys who shot you." He looked at her as he spoke, and Riven caught her breath at the look in his indescribable eyes.

"Oh," she breathed.

Hawkeye glanced up at the sun, which had just risen. "He should be back any minute now."

Riven looked down at her sock-clad feet. "Ok. Would you mind helping me stand up?"

"No problem."

Standing was considerably easier than it had been last night, but Riven still didn't care for it too much. It made the large bloody hole in her side ache. "Ow. Did the bullet go through me, or what? Because it feels like there's an exit wound." Vividly remembering that the reason she'd been shot in the first place was protecting Hawkeye, Riven glanced at him anxiously.

Hawkeye gave her a small smile of reassurance. "Yes, and I'm fine." He turned around to show her his back, and indicated a small bloodstain on his shirt. "The bullet went through you, and stopped." Hawkeye turned to face her, suddenly very serious.

Quietly, he said, "Riven, you took a shot for me. I won't forget it. Thank you."

The tip of her nose turned pink, and she glanced away. "No problem," Riven muttered.

She was rescued from what she considered the epitome of awkward by Thor's return. His face was grave as he landed lightly by the Hulk, and he strode forward to meet Captain America. "Our adversaries are more dangerous than we thought," the demigod said, and then told them what he had learned.

_ The black-armored man was on sentry duty, but far too few people ever look up. Thor knocked him out and took the man with him, retreating to a distance where they wouldn't be overheard._

_ The man woke up with Thor's hammer against his throat. His eyes went wide, and then he smiled. Thor hadn't been expecting that._

_ "Who are you?" Thor asked._

_ The man's smile grew wider, and he answered, "We are the Freed. And we will destroy you, all of you who are unnatural and inhuman."_

_ Thor blinked. "We are here to help."_

_ "You lie!" The man hissed. "SHIELD dominates lives, controls people's fate without their consent. We are the Freed. We know what powers seek to control us, what forces use those like you for their armies, silencing any who fight back. We will not be silenced. We are the Freed. We fight for the innocent. We will destroy SHIELD, and all its inhuman weapons."_

_ Thor was silent for a moment. The Freed, as they called themselves, had stolen Riven's technology and were determined to kill the Avengers, and probably Riven as well, since she worked for SHIELD. And destroying SHIELD would leave Earth vulnerable to the threats which had begun to rise against it. Yes, SHIELD did manipulate people's lives – in order to save them._

_ "You are wrong," Thor said quietly._

_ "We are right!" His prisoner was adamant. "We are the Freed. We see through your lies, we know the truth of your deceptions. You will die, inhuman, you and all your –"_

_ The man never finished the sentence._

Riven's face was white. "Uh-oh," she muttered.

"No kidding," Stark said. "Technically, I'm still human, but I don't think these Freed maniacs are going to make that distinction."

Captain America was silent, thinking. Natasha looked at Riven and Hawkeye, worry plain in her features. The Hulk rumbled, an angry noise that made Riven's ears hurt.

"It's more than that," she said. "In order to hack my firewall and steal my designs, the Freed have to have an immense power source – like, maybe a smaller Tesseract, or something equally strong. These guys are really well equipped to take down SHIELD."

Natasha murmured, "We're probably not the only ones they're after. He said they would destroy SHIELD, which puts all our agents in danger."

"We have to warn Fury," Captain America said. "Riven, will our communicators work from this distance? We don't even know where he is."

Riven shrugged. "They should. I don't know why they wouldn't, but with everything else that's gone wrong, I'm not sure I'd bet on it."

The Captain nodded. "Command, All. Director Fury? Do you copy?"

There were several long moments of silence, and Captain America finally shook his head. "He's not going to answer. Command, Avengers plus Riven. He can call us if he gets the chance, but he's probably on the run from the Freed."

Hawkeye was looking out through the trees, toward the last place Thor had seen the Freed. "I think it's time to go," he said. "Someone's moving down there – an advance scout, maybe. They're probably looking for the guy Thor took. We need to move."

The Hulk stood, moving to tower over them, then crouching and holding out a massive hand. Hawkeye looked at Riven. "The Hulk's going to carry you for a while. We're going to move fast. Let us know if your side starts hurting."

"Hurting more, you mean?" Riven tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it. She was scared, both for her and for her friends.

"Yeah." Hawkeye gripped her hand for a moment. "Hang in there."

Riven nodded, and carefully perched herself in the Hulk's hand. Her eyes widened as the Hulk lifted her up to his shoulder, where she quickly sat, balancing delicately. "Whoa," Riven breathed. "You're really tall."

The Hulk made a grunting noise, and Riven smiled. "Yeah, I know – understatement."

Captain America, now far below Riven, was giving a few last-minute orders. "We can't just run anymore. As soon as we find a defensible position, we take out the Freed. If these guys get out of Acadia, more people are going to get hurt. We take them down, all of them. You all know your marching orders – now let's get out of here before they find us."

**Hmm, interesting, no? Please don't anyone actually say no. Leave me a review if you want me to update this evening. ;)**

**K.S.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Day 5

**Good evening, everybody. After a busy day of shopping for my Halloween costume, I come home to find. . . reviews! Yay!**

**So here's your next chapter. And thanks to Heather, for the kind words, and to Shyloh1234, for making me smile for about three hours.**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven.**

**K.S.**

As the Avengers moved through Acadia, Riven was forced to admit that she'd been incorrect; the Hulk wasn't just really tall, he was _extremely tall._ Especially when she was slightly dizzy and riding on his green shoulder.

Riven looked behind them, and winced. The Hulk towered over the other Avengers, his head nearly even with the treetops. There simply weren't enough gaps large enough to let him pass through the trees, and so they were leaving a trail of crushed foliage behind them. The Freed would have no trouble following.

But that was, in theory, exactly what they wanted. If the Avengers could find a defensible position soon, then they could dig in and spring an ambush when the Freed came looking for them.

Riven just wanted it to be over, and the sooner the better.

She pressed a hand to her bandaged side, closing her eyes for a moment. It hurt. A lot. Riven didn't regret taking a shot for Hawkeye, but she did wish it was slightly less painful.

Riding the Hulk with her eyes closed made her feel like she was going to fall, so Riven opened her eyes, checking behind them again. Still nothing.

Her communicator chimed, and she jumped. "Riven?" Captain America sounded more tentative than she'd ever heard him. Riven had thought decisiveness was part of his personality.

"Yeah?"

"I . . . are you ok?"

Riven frowned. "Yeah, I'm fine. Haven't I already said that, several times?"

"I know. It's just you and me on this channel, and I. . ."

He trailed off again, and Riven sighed. "Steve – spit it out. That's an order."

Captain America's voice came back to her, sounding tormented. "I'm supposed to be the CO here, Riven. My job is to watch out for my soldiers. And – to keep you safe."

Riven opened her mouth to inform him that she didn't need to be taken care of, ignoring all evidence to the contrary, but he kept talking. "I know, Riven, you don't have to say it. But as a non-combatant, you're my responsibility. And you got hurt protecting one of my soldiers. Something is seriously wrong with that."

Riven's eyes softened. "I know. Don't blame yourself, Steve. There was nothing you could have done. You're a man short of a full team, being chased through unknown territory. You're doing a good job."

"Thanks. I just wish – I don't know. I wish."

Riven looked down at the Captain where he walked with the others. "Yeah. I do too."

Abruptly, the Hulk made a loud rumbling noise, making Riven yelp in surprise, catching herself on the Hulk's shoulder. "Whoa! Right, sorry, big guy. I'll cut the sentiment now."

She heard Captain America laugh, and Riven smiled. "Better now?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Riven's communicator chimed again, and she spoke the command to switch back to the _Avengers plus Riven_ channel. She sighed. If they all made it out alive, then at least half of them were going to need therapy.

_Well, maybe not. This sort of thing is their job, even though it isn't mine. So I'll need therapy. That's nothing new. _Riven smiled a little, checking over her shoulder again.

The smile dropped off her face. "Hey guys, something's moving back there."

Captain America said, "Thor, take a look." And Riven saw the demigod rise to the same level as the treetops. He stared down the tree-covered slope for a few moments, and then reported, "There are several of the Freed scouting behind us. Perhaps half a dozen of them."

"All right. As long as the numbers stay small, we can keep ahead of them. We still need a place to lay a trap."

Hawkeye said, "I'll scout ahead. There might be something we can use in those rocks, over to the right."

Riven bit her lip, but said nothing. After a few long minutes of silence, Hawkeye said, "All right, I've got something. The rocks up here form a bottleneck, with access on top for me and Nat. The Hulk will fit just past the narrow spot, where it opens up again. Looks pretty good."

"Then we have our ambush," Captain America replied. "Hulk, take Riven through the bottleneck. Riven, Stark, you're going to have to find someplace to take cover while we sort out the Freed. Thor, let us know when they start getting close."

The Hulk growled, and stomped his way up to the rock fall that Hawkeye described. Riven saw the archer standing on a boulder, and waved. He raised a hand in return.

The Hulk only barely fit through the bottleneck, scraping rock and dirt onto the ground as he squeezed through. On the other side, he carefully set Riven on the rocky ground. She smiled up at him and patted the Hulk's massive green hand. "Thanks," she said softly, and began looking for a hiding place, sock-clad feet silent on the rocky ground.

Riven could hear Natasha climbing the rocks behind her, and Captain America's footsteps. Then Stark walked up behind Riven. "Hey. How's it going?"

She shrugged, studying the rocks. "All right. You?"

Stark didn't say anything for a moment, and then muttered, "Just frustrated."

Riven glanced sideways at him. Stark wasn't looking at her. "Yeah?" _When did I become team psychiatrist? Psychiatry is practically the only field in which I don't have a degree . . . but these last few days have been nothing if not educational. Besides, somebody's got to do it, and this makes me useful. _

"It's nothing."

_Or maybe not._

Riven finally located what she considered to be a suitable hiding place; a cleft in the rock wall ran back into the cliff face for several yards, forming a small but habitable space. "Hey – do you think this'll work?"

Stark walked over and stuck his head in. "Yeah, probably. Ladies first."

Riven rolled her eyes and entered the small space. "Ok, guys, we're good. We stashed ourselves in a rock cleft, so as long as no one blows up the cliff, we should be fine."

"Copy that," Captain America replied. "We should be getting busy out here in a few minutes."

Riven sat down, putting her back to the wall. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, Stark was looking at her curiously. "Hey," he asked, "What's going on?"

She smiled. "Not much. I've been shot, your suit's dead, and we're fighting for not only our lives, but the continuation of SHIELD's existence, against a better armed and organized enemy, who just happen to all be psycho. Pretty normal day, really."

Stark grinned. "Yeah, no kidding."

Natasha said quietly, "Any second now. Keep your heads down."

Riven and Stark looked at each other. Riven bit her lip. "I hate this part," she whispered. He gave her a smile, but there was no doubting the worry in his eyes.

For them, the battle seemed to take an eternity. They sat in the rock cleft, listening to the sounds of screaming, shooting, and the Hulk roaring. They heard the chatter over their communicators as the Avengers who were fighting tried to keep control of the situation.

Finally, they heard the all-clear. "I think we're good," Captain America said. "Once I wrap up this idiot with the machine gun, we're clear."

Riven closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. As far as she could tell, no one had been seriously injured, although Natasha had reported a grazed arm from a close call with a gunman. Riven opened her eyes and leaned forward, turning her head to see out of the cleft and trying to catch a glimpse of her friends.

She could just see Captain America, deflecting bullets as he approached the last of the Freed's soldiers. By craning her head, Riven could almost see the man holding the gun. She could just see the barrel of the machine gun, flashing in a bright staccato rhythm as it fired . . . over and over, a steady series of flashes . . .

_No! Not now! _

Riven gasped in a breath, leaning back against the wall, hard, gripping her head in both hands, closing her eyes. Staccato flashing lights were one of the worst migraine triggers. And the flashes from the machine gun had just tripped one of Riven's migraines.

_No!_


	19. Chapter 19 - Day 5

**I'm back. Good morning. I dreamed about my fanfic last night, which was odd but gave me a great idea for the sub-plot. Yes, there is one. This is what happens when avid readers of classic literature write fanfiction. Bwa-ha-ha!**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven, since I ate my doughnut.**

**K.S.**

Stark moved toward her, dark eyes worried. "Riven? What's going on?"

Riven rocked forward and backward, creating a rhythm as her spine hit the rock, again and again and – _stop it! I can't do this now! They need to be able to move, I can't have a migraine, I can't let them see –_

"Riven?"

Natasha's voice said sharply, "What's going on?"

Stark answered, "I don't know. Riven's – Riven's having some kind of fit."

She was shaking now, fingers flicking and curling of their own accord. Riven slammed her head back into the rock, gasping for air. She couldn't breathe. She was trapped, caged; she had to get out, out _now –_

Natasha said in horror, "Now? Oh, _no_ - get her out of there before she breaks something! Riven, can you hear me? Riven?"

Riven could hear Nat. She just couldn't speak. Lights flashed behind her eyes as Stark grabbed her arms, lifting her to her feet and half-carrying her out into the open. Riven's legs wouldn't hold her, and she collapsed, crumpling to the ground.

She gasped in pain – Riven had landed on her injured side. Stark said, "Natasha, what the hell is going on?"

The Black Widow ignored him. "Hang on, Riven. I'm coming."

Hawkeye got there first.

He sank to his knees next to Riven as she thrashed on the ground, body spasming, limbs flailing. She moaned, eyes half-closed, seeing things that weren't there. Hawkeye caught her shoulders as her body jerked, and pulled her close against him, bracing Riven against his chest so she couldn't move her upper body.

She moaned, head shaking hard from side to side. "Nat," Hawkeye said quietly. "What's wrong with Riven?"

Natasha ran up to them, breathing hard, panic in her eyes. "I don't know exactly. She has these migraines – spasms, almost like seizures." The Black Widow knelt beside her partner and her friend, reaching for Riven.

Hawkeye blocked her hand. "I've got her."

Nat met his eyes, a thousand thoughts burning between them in an instant. "Are you sure?"

"Very," he said softly.

"Hang on," Stark said slowly. "Migraines and spasms? _Riven _is the study subject?"

Captain America arrived with Thor. The Captain's blue gaze fixed on Riven as she writhed in Hawkeye's arms. "What study?" the soldier demanded.

Stark stared at Riven as he replied, "She had me and the Doc helping her with a case study on this person who was having weird seizure attacks, migraines. I had no idea it was _her._"

The Hulk announced his presence with a growl, staring down at Riven. Natasha said slowly, "Riven told me she'd run every test she could think of."

Stark shook his head. "She lied. There was no blood work. I was about to mention it to Banner," he glanced up at the Hulk, "When the alarms went off from the Freed's attack."

Hawkeye brushed Riven's dark hair out of her face. Sweat beaded on her skin, and she gasped, "Hawk?"

"Right here," he whispered, but her eyes were cloudy once more and she stared through him without seeing as her spine arched. Hawkeye looked up at the others. "I helped her with a blood draw two days ago."

Stark shrugged. "We never got it."

Captain America's voice was full of worry as he said, "If she keeps thrashing like that, she's going to re-open the bullet wound." Then he looked at Natasha. "When she left that night, when we were talking – was she having a migraine?"

Natasha nodded, looking miserable. "Riven made me promise not to tell." She glanced at her partner. "I'm sorry, Clint."

Hawkeye didn't look up from Riven's face. She was gasping for air, wide-eyed but not seeing anything, shaking in his arms. He pulled her closer, cradling her head and pinning her arms.

Thor stared at Riven, watching her convulse. Something was tugging at his awareness, something vaguely familiar . . . he couldn't place it. But it had to do with Riven. He'd never seen anything like this before, so what was he thinking of that seemed familiar?

Riven was lost. She was falling through a maze of neon lights and black holes, laughter and gunfire and someone shouting '_Hawk!'_, over and over and over. . .

She moaned, unable to breathe, unable to think. Unknowingly, Riven echoed the voice that screamed in her mind, her lips forming a name as her voice whispered, "Hawk . . ."

A hand touched her face, and Riven seized the contact, fighting toward it as hard as she could, desperate for a way back, out of her insanity. It _hurt, _agony lancing into every joint, pure fire running like acid through her side. "Hawk. . ."

Hawkeye stroked Riven's cheek with his fingertips, smoothing her wild hair and wiping the tears from her face. Every time she whispered his name, he replied, "I'm right here." Hawkeye knew she couldn't hear him, but it didn't matter. If he kept talking to her, she would find her way back to him. Maybe.

Riven heard him. Barely. She clawed apart the fabric of the sparkling blackness, leaving trails of white blood on her fingers, smearing red behind her eyes. Riven heard his whisper. "I'm right here."

_Say it again. Say it again, and show me the way back. Please. I need you, Hawk!_

"Hawk!"

"I'm right here, Riven. I promise."

She hit the ground.

Riven's eyes opened and she stared into Hawkeye's face, drawing in a deep breath. "Oh my God, _Hawk._" She threw her arms around his neck and hung on tight, burying her face in his shoulder. "_Thank you._"

Hawkeye held her, locking eyes with Captain America over Riven's shoulder. The Captain shook his head slightly, and Hawkeye nodded. "You all right, Riven?" he asked softly.

Riven nodded, her voice shaky. "I think so. I've never snapped out of a migraine like that. I don't understand . . . ow. I'm bleeding again, aren't I?"

Hawkeye gripped her shoulders and held her at arm's length, looking her up and down. "Yes. The Captain's going to take a look."

Riven nodded tiredly. "Ok." She let Hawkeye ease her down onto the ground, and she smiled up at Nat when the red-head took Riven's hand. Captain America gently removed the field bandage from Riven's side – and stopped.

"Riven?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you take a look at this?" the Captain asked.

Riven blinked. "I think so." She could, if only just barely. It was a difficult angle to manage while lying down, but Natasha and Hawkeye helped her sit up slightly. Riven paused. "What is that?"

Captain America shook his head. "I have no idea."

Buried in Riven's side, made visible by the open wound, was a small, glowing shard of a blue material that she didn't recognize. "That's beyond weird," she muttered. "I don't know what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be there. Can we get it out of me?"

Captain America shrugged. "I can try."

Thor frowned. The memory that pulled at his mind was growing more insistent. He couldn't think of what it was, but the faint blue glow in Riven's bullet wound reminded him of something . . . he glanced at Stark, who was looking rather sick. Thor simply couldn't place the sensation, but he knew it was something he'd experienced before. What was it?

Riven gasped a little as Captain America got a grip on the blue shard inside her. His blue eyes found her grey ones. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Riven gripped Natasha's hand, _hard, _and the Captain slid the blue shard out of Riven's side in a single, quick motion. Riven gasped again, closing her eyes. Hawkeye braced her shoulders, taking hold of her free hand. She opened her eyes to smile at him.

"I'm ok. I actually feel fine. I can't even tell that it's not there, whatever it is."

Captain America frowned at the glowing blue object in his hand. "I've seen this before, somewhere."

Thor remembered. "I know. I believe it is the same material as the Tesseract that we destroyed a year ago."

Riven's eyes went wide. "No _way,_" she breathed. Abruptly, she sat straight up, disregarding the sharp pain in her side. "_Holy crap! _I get it! I understand! It's completely impossible, but it makes perfect sense!"

**Epic cliffhanger, no? All will be revealed in the next chapter. . . well, almost all. What fun would it be if I didn't withhold critical information? But it's been a real pain trying to keep track of who knows what, so it was a relief to get this chapter out of the way and put everyone on the same page.**

**Leave me a review!**

**K.S.**


	20. Chapter 20 - Day 5

**Ok, I'm doing a quick update because I'm really busy with my Halloween costume, so I don't know when I'll be back on here. Sometime tomorrow, probably. Here's your big reveal. ;)**

**Disclaimer: All I own is Riven**

**K.S.**

Riven started to stand, and paused when Hawkeye's hand on her shoulder held her firmly in place. "Riven, you're still bleeding," he reminded her. "Can your epiphany wait until you have a bandage on?"

"Oh. Right. That. Sorry."

Riven sat, lying down again and staring up at the blue sky, mind racing. The Captain carefully handed the glowing blue shard to Thor, and went to work on Riven's side.

Stark, who had watched all this in silence, asked, "So, care to enlighten us, Riven?"

"Yeah, of course." Riven blinked up at Hawkeye, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "I'm sure you all remember last year, in New York? I was there, too."

_Riven stared out the window with her mouth open. She'd never seen anything like this level of chaos – and neither had she seen anything like this level of miracle._

_ The Avengers. She'd read the initiative, of course, but Riven had never dreamed she'd see them all together. Wow._

_ That was approximately when the window blew in. Riven yelped and dove behind a desk. She'd been in this office to look up a patent, but a skyscraper was a stupid place to be while a multi-dimensional battle was raging on the streets of New York._

_ As it turned out, it wasn't just the window. The whole floor below the one Riven was on had just blown up. The next thing she knew, Riven had been sent flying by a desk that had gone spinning through the air. And now __**she**__ was spinning through the air, right out what used to be a window, down toward the streets, fifty floors below._

_ Riven stared down at the chaos and quietly hoped she would die before she felt the pain of hitting the ground. A second later, something slammed into her, and she looked around to find herself gripped in the massive green hand of the Hulk as he leapt across a street._

_ Riven stared up at the Hulk in awe, and almost didn't notice when he place her in a building before latching on to an alien craft and ripping it apart. She was now on approximately the eightieth floor of a completely different skyscraper._

_ This one had a view of the roof of Stark Tower, and the Tesseract, and the Black Widow. Riven stood shakily, watching in star-struck wonder as Iron Man blazed past, carrying – a nuclear warhead? She couldn't be sure._

_ Movement caught her eye, and Riven noticed for the first time a man standing on a rooftop not too far away. He was an archer, shooting invaders out of the sky. Riven searched her memory for the details of the Avengers Initiative. Hawkeye, she decided. That was his name._

_ A few moments later, the portal, and the Tesseract exploded, and Riven cried out as she felt a sharp stinging in her skin. She looked down to find glass fragments buried in her side. Crap._

"But it wasn't just glass," Riven said earnestly. Captain America was tying off the bandage on her side, and she winced as he tightened a knot. "Ow. No, carry on. Anyway, the portal exploded, and so did the Tesseract. We all thought it was destroyed, and maybe it was, but I think it shattered. Into fragments."

Riven pointed at the glowing blue shard in Thor's hand. "Like that one. Which explains everything. Why I didn't need to eat or sleep – my body was absorbing energy directly from a power source, so I didn't need fuel or rest. And the migraines were a reaction between the Tesseract fragment and the Orthanium in my blood."

"I'm sorry, the what?" Captain America asked.

Riven winced. "Uh, yeah, that. I kind of owe you another story. This one's ugly."

She glanced around at the expectant faces, and took a deep breath. "Ok. I was abducted when I was seven years old, and used for illegal drug testing."

Natasha froze. "You were _what?_"

Riven couldn't meet her friend's eyes. "Yeah, well, let's not get in an argument about who's said the least about their past, because it would not be me. Anyway.

"I was – am – an orphan. I never knew my parents. I lived in an orphanage in New York until I was seven, when I made the brilliant decision to run away. It made sense at the time, because everyone at the orphanage was afraid of me. I could solve the other kids' jigsaw puzzles in about thirty seconds, and I could pick locks and hack the adults' cell phones. So I always knew things that no one wanted me to know, like the fact that I was a freak. That's what they called me, because I wouldn't talk to anyone, but I was smarter than any of them.

"So I ran. I stole the GPS system out of the orphanage van, and packed my clothes and some food. I ran. It went all right until night time, of course. Night in New York City is great, unless you're seven years old and everyone who sees you knows you aren't supposed to be out alone.

"I was actually trying to get to Central Park when this guy came out of nowhere. He was wearing a ski mask, and just picked me up and carried me off. He put his hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream, and that was that."

Riven paused for a moment, grey eyes far away. "That was . . . the beginning. They were some sort of drug circulation gang, but they were looking for a better high, and so they were experimenting with chemicals. None of them were willing to try what they came up with, so they gave it to me.

"I didn't really have a choice, because I didn't know where I was, and they all carried weapons, and I didn't get food unless I cooperated."

She rolled up the sleeve of her blood-stained green shirt, and showed the Avengers the small dark dots that covered her arm. Needle scars.

"I was there for about a month, I think. It was hard to tell, and they were getting really angry with their suppliers, because nothing they used on me had any affect. I finally figured out that it wasn't the chemicals that didn't work – it was me. I didn't react to any of them. The one they used most was powdered Orthanium, pure. It's not hard to get, because it supposedly has no reactants. They used it for a stabilizer."

Riven looked down at her hands. They were shaking slightly. "I heard them talking about what the drugs were. I knew which powders were which. They kept me tied up in a corner, but after a few weeks, one of them tied a bad knot, and I slipped it loose. I waited. Eventually, there was only one of them in the room with me, and he was more focused on his cigarette than on me. I switched some of the powders with the ones they used to make their cigarettes."

Riven stared at her fingers for a long moment, as if seeing them covered in chemicals once more. "Half of them poisoned themselves the next time they lit up. The others panicked. They went after their dealer, thinking he'd double-crossed them. It was the first time they'd really left me unguarded. I ran for it. Made it out, obviously. But I have a lot of Orthanium in my blood still, because the stuff stays in your system forever. That's supposed to be fine, because it doesn't react to anything."

She looked up at the blue shard in Thor's hand. "Except that last year, when I was back in New York, I got hit with a piece of the Tesseract. I started having migraines a few weeks later. It makes sense. And I wasn't able to find anything screwy with the tests, because the Orthanium would have masked the presence of the Tesseract shard. I think . . . well, I've never encountered anything like this before, but the migraines have been getting worse, and more frequent. I think the Tesseract shard and the Orthanium were reacting to each other over a long-term scale, causing the migraines, and eventually. . . well, it's a really good thing we found the Tesseract shard, let's just leave it at that."

Riven listened to the silence for a moment, then looked around her at the stunned Avengers. Finally, Natasha squeezed Riven's hand, and Riven smiled at her.

Captain America shook his head slowly, blue eyes dark and sad. "It makes you wonder," he said quietly, "Why we fight for people who do things like this." The Captain took a deep breath, and set his shoulders. "That doesn't matter right now. Removing the Tesseract shard should end your migraines, yes?"

Riven nodded. "Yeah. And I think I know how the Freed stole my tech. My firewall can only be hacked if you have a serious power source, which I figured would be pretty safe because we didn't know of one strong enough. Not since the Tesseract was destroyed, which it wasn't. Just shattered. So they're probably using a Tesseract shard, or maybe multiple shards."

Stark shook his head like a dog emerging from water. "Well, that's not good."

Riven smiled a little, sadly. "No. It's not. But I do have good news for you – I think I can wire the Tesseract shard into the power core of your suit."

Stark looked up. "That would definitely improve my day."

Hawkeye had said nothing, and Riven turned her head to look up at him. He wouldn't meet her anxious gaze, and stood. "I'm going to take a look around," he said, and walked away.

**Ouch, trouble in paradise. Well, what do you think? I hope you aren't as confused reading this as I was writing it. I think I've finally got it all straightened out, and I'm quite proud to have made it to 20 chapters!**

**K.S.**


	21. Chapter 21 - Day 5

**Hi guys. I'm off to a four-hour rehearsal shortly, and I'm afraid my updates might be getting rather less frequent, because we open in two weeks with a double cast. Naturally, I'm in both casts, so I'm in rehearsal practically every day, and my writing time is now minimal. Sorry. Thank goodness for margins, such as the one I left for myself so I can post this chapter! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I own only Riven**

**K.S.**

Riven was angry. It had been almost an hour, and Hawkeye hadn't returned. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring down at the inner workings of the power core to the Iron Man suit.

Stark was sitting across from her, occasionally repositioning a wire. Riven reached out and prodded the Tesseract shard with a fingertip, nudging it into place. The power core lit up, and began to make a soft humming sound.

The millionaire grinned. "Looks like I'm good to go."

Riven stared blankly at the power core for a moment, then muttered, "Yeah." After a long few seconds, Riven stood, ignoring the pain in her side.

Natasha's eyes locked onto Riven as the scientist walked in a small circle, eyes on the ground. Riven's lips moved in a silent argument with herself, and she finally announced, "I'm going to go find Hawk."

Captain America looked up. "Hawk?"

Riven blinked. _Crap. _"Yeah. I'll call you if I get into trouble." She wasn't worried. The Freed in Acadia had been wiped out by the Avengers – in theory.

In truth, Riven just didn't care anymore.

She walked through the forest alone. It was quiet, with only the occasional birdcall breaking the stillness. Riven kicked at a rock, then wished she hadn't. She missed her shoes.

"Damn it, Hawk," Riven muttered. "Why'd you run off? Where did you go?"

She picked up a pinecone and threw it as hard as she could, which wasn't all that hard. Riven watched as the pinecone bounced off a tree, and pressed a hand to her side. "Hawk," she said again, softly.

Riven went still, feeling eyes on her. She didn't move her head at all as she glanced around her, seeing only trees. Ah. Of course.

"I find it rather creepy when you do that," Riven called, and heard only silence in answer.

Then, finally, Hawkeye's voice came from behind her – and up. Way up. "I don't care."

Riven turned around and squinted up at him where he was perched in a tree. _Way _up. "Too bad. Why'd you leave?"

"I needed some time to think."

Riven backed up so she could see him better, and tripped over the same rock she'd tried to kick. She fell hard, landing on her tailbone. "_Shit! _Ow! You've had almost an hour. Do you really think that slowly, Hawk? Or are you just as pissed as I am?"

Riven glared at the offending rock, carefully picking herself up off the ground. She'd known backing up without looking was a bad idea, of course she had, but she'd done it anyway. Riven hadn't expected to actually fall. _And why not?_

"You gave me a lot to think about. And yes, I am pissed."

_Because I thought he'd catch me. Why did I think that?_

"Great. That makes it easier to be mad at you. And what, pray tell, are you so angry about?"

Riven had lost track of him when she fell, and suddenly Hawkeye dropped to the ground in front of her, silhouetted by the sun. Riven yelped and stumbled backwards, kicking that stupid rock _again _but not falling this time.

Hawkeye advanced on her, gaze full of angry storms. "You lied to me. You made my partner lie to me, for you. You should have told me. You were having life-threatening seizures and you told me it was _nothing of consequence._"

Riven kept backing up, scared of him for the first time ever. She finally hit a tree and froze as Hawkeye walked toward her, still talking.

"I tried to protect you, but how could I when you wouldn't be honest with me? You took a shot for me, one I should have seen coming. I'm not a team player. Neither are you. But for the time being, we are both on a team, forced into this situation in an attempt to survive."

Hawkeye towered over her, making Riven shrink back against the rough bark of the tree, feeling it dig into her skin. "You almost died, because you didn't tell me you thought there was a sniper behind me. _What the hell, Riven? _Talk to me!"

She stared up at him, scared and confused and feeling a rush of something hot and angry in her stomach. Riven drew in a breath, feeling fury fill her once more, rushing into her lungs and lending steel to her spine, turning her into something stronger than a fragile scientist who cowered when afraid.

Riven lunged forward, planting her palms on Hawkeye's chest and shoving him backwards. "And what am I supposed to do with you?" she shouted. "The man of mystery, the sneaky spy who doesn't talk, who reads horrible books in order to go to sleep, the one the crew is afraid to talk to because all anyone but your partner knows about you is that you kill people for a living. You want me to talk to you? Where was I supposed to start? You're angry because I didn't tell you about the things in my past that put me in danger?"

Riven hit him, punching Hawkeye in the chest as hard as she could, ignoring the sting in her knuckles. She hit him again, bruising her fingers and not caring at all. "How about we talk about your past, huh? How about all the things you've done that you don't want me to know about? The people who would kill me without thinking just so they could get to you?"

Riven slammed both fists into his chest, looked up into his perfect storm-colored eyes, and screamed, _"Why do you care at all?"_

Hawkeye caught her wrists in his hands. "I don't know," he whispered, and kissed her.

Riven felt his lips touch hers, warm and gentle and soft, and her mind went completely blank. Not a single number, word, or thought entered her brain for a long, painful heartbeat.

Then Hawkeye pulled back and stared down at her, breathing hard. "Riven Lange," he said softly, "I think I'm starting to really hate you."

Riven couldn't even gasp out her laughter. She grabbed his face in her hands and pulled him down to her, kissing him as hard as she could. Hawkeye wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, gentle and sweet to match her angry, desperate fear.

It was the strangest kiss they could have shared, but it was exactly what they needed.

**Things have just made a dramatic shift, no? Be sure to tell me your thoughts, because updates equal inspiration for me. Wish me luck at rehearsal, I'm going to need it!**

**K.S.**


	22. Chapter 22 - Day 5

**Afternoon, everyone. I was overwhelmed by all the responses to my last chapter. Thanks to all of you, but especially to SuperSnickerdoodle, Shyloh1234, and Indigo Scrawl. Indigo, I'm sorry you're sick, but I'm glad you like my work. Get well soon. I've never had anyone tell me my writing is impeccable.**

**Shyloh, I appreciate it, I really do. Your review made me laugh so hard I cried, because the real miracle is that you think I write miracles.**

**And Snickerdoodle, I never said I was going to ****_stop _****updating - just that I might not get a chapter up every day. I'm awfully busy, and my chemistry is tieing my brain in knots. Please don't attack me with a spork. I have an aversion to pointy things. I wish I could tell you I'll try not to get you in trouble, but making people laugh is one of my favorite things about writing. I can tell you from experience that if you're trying not to laugh, holding your breath works pretty well.**

**So here's your next chapter!**

**Discaimer: I own only Riven**

**K.S.**

Riven breathed. She curled her fingers into Hawkeye's hair and breathed in the scent of his skin.

He just held her, the two of them standing alone in the forest, wrapped up in each others' arms. Riven was listening to his heartbeat.

_We weren't actually angry at each other – well, not much. We were listing all the reasons we can't be together, and that's why we were angry._

Riven looked up into Hawkeye's face, and found him staring back at her. She smiled, and kissed him softly.

_Good thing we both suck at following the rules._

Natasha's voice came out of nowhere, and Riven jumped, hand flying to her ear. "I hate to break it to you, but you do realize you left your communicators on?"

Riven froze, staring up at Hawkeye. "Oh, shit," she whispered, and he smiled.

"Thanks, Nat," he replied. "We'll be back soon." And he turned his communicator off.

Riven did the same, and then they were walking, hand in hand. She was fascinated by his hands. They were rough in places, calloused, but still gentle.

"Hawk?"

He glanced at her, and Riven marveled again at the color of his eyes.

"I just . . . well – obviously the others know what's going on, but when we get back to SHIELD, we probably shouldn't tell anyone else, right?"

Hawkeye smiled a little. It had been a while since Riven had stammered over her words. "Probably."

"All right."

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Riven and Hawkeye were almost back to the others when they turned their communicators back on, just to be safe, and heard someone yelling. Riven froze, and Hawkeye reached for an arrow.

Then they heard the words. "Finally! This is exactly what I needed!" And Iron Man blazed across the sky in a line of fire.

Riven burst out laughing. Stark's voice came over the communicators again. "Hey, Riven, whatever this Tesseract thing is made of, it rocks!"

She couldn't answer him through her laughter, and Hawkeye only smiled, relaxing. Captain America's voice said, "That's great, Stark. Can you maybe tone it down a bit? If the Freed have backup out here, we don't need to tell them where we are."

Stark replied, "Fine. But I'm not reading anyone out here except us."

Natasha said, "We still need to get out of here, find a way back to SHIELD."

Riven gave Hawkeye a smile as they approached the others, and she added, "We should be all right to find civilization, at least for a while, since we got rid of the Freed that were chasing us. But someone's going to notice when this group of Freed doesn't report in."

Captain America looked up from emptying pebbles out of his boot. "I know. We need transportation. I was thinking we could maybe lay low for a while at Stark Tower in New York, because that's where SHIELD would look for us – but the Freed would look there too."

Iron Man came into view again, blazing in for a landing. "Yeah, but I've done some expansion work in the basement. It's practically a nuclear bunker down there; we should be able to escape notice. And I would kill for a drink, so we should definitely go back to my place."

Natasha rolled her eyes, and Riven hid a smile. Thor pointed out, "That is a distance for those of us who cannot fly. And moving through the city unnoticed will be a challenge."

Riven laughed. "_This _has been a challenge. Not getting noticed in New York will be easy. I mean, it's _New York_! As for getting there – well, there's always public transportation."

No one said anything for a moment, and Riven knew they were trying to picture their obscure group on a bus or a subway. It was a difficult thing to do.

Finally, Captain America said, "I think she's right. It's our only real option at the moment, and we all need to eat, and rest. The first priority will be to find some different clothes, though." He glanced up at the Hulk, who nodded, showing large teeth in what could almost pass for a smile.

Riven blinked. Up until the Captain had mentioned food, she hadn't even realized that none of them had eaten since the morning of the Freed's attack.

Neither had she realized that, for the first time in a long time, Riven was hungry. _Wow. I guess I was right about the Tesseract shard, then. What an inconvenient time to be right._

"All right," Iron Man said, "We're gonna put the Avengers plus one on a bus. This will be fun."

Riven smiled a little. It was an absurd suggestion, but it was all they had at the moment. And that made her wonder exactly how bad of an idea it was.

_I guess I'll find out soon enough._

A few minutes later, Riven was in mid-air, again. Captain America had sent her up with Thor, because she was familiar with Acadia's layout, and she would hopefully be able to figure out which way to go.

Thor's arm around Riven's waist kept her warm in the cold air, but her feet were freezing. She squinted down at the landscape below them.

"Can we get closer to that lake?" she asked, and Thor nodded. Riven's eyes watered as they flew, and she had to wipe away the moisture in order to see properly.

"Oh, ok. I think I know where we are. We missed Eagle Lake when we landed, I mean, we had to have missed, or we'd have crossed the road by now. So that means. . . "

Riven pointed. "Over there, please?"

Thor complied, and Riven paused in her mental mapping to look at him. Thor hadn't really said anything since Captain America had found the Tesseract shard in Riven's side.

She frowned at the demigod, who seemed to be pointedly not looking at her. "Thor," Riven said quietly. "What's wrong?"

"I am not aware of anything being wrong."

Riven smacked him. Gently, of course, but still. It had the desired effect, making Thor look down at her, surprise in his blue gaze. Riven said fiercely, "Look, I don't know what's bothering you, but I won't know unless you tell me, so if you don't tell me, nothing will change."

Thor looked away, staring off into the white clouds as if they held the answer to the riddles of the universe. Riven smacked him again.

He turned back to her, and said quietly, "I thought the menace of the Tesseract destroyed when I returned to Asgard using the powers of Mjolnir. Now I find it scattered, with still greater potential for evil. You will forgive me if I spend some time in thought."

Riven went still, a bit ashamed of herself. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't insist on knowing everyone else's secrets when I kept so many of my own."

Thor blinked at her, and smiled. "You misunderstand me. I appreciate your concerns, but I am alarmed by the thought of many pieces of the Tesseract, each with great power. Each a possible source of great suffering."

Riven nodded. "I know what you mean. I've been wondering this whole time, if there are other pieces of the Tesseract out there, does that mean there are others like me?"

Thor regarded her seriously, and said, "Riven Lange, I do not believe that there is anyone quite like you, anywhere."

The tip of her nose turned pink. "Thanks, I think. Um. . . Can we go that way?"

He nodded, and they flew.

When Riven and Thor returned to the ground, she was flushed from the wind and excited from discovery. "Ok, guys, I think I got it. We tried to put down in Eagle Lake, and missed, and we actually hit Breakneck Pond –"

Iron Man snorted, and Riven glanced in his direction. "No, really. We went north, which was great, because it's April, so the loop road is closed, and there's nobody out here. For civilization, we should go northwest to Breakneck Road, which will take us into town. We can get a bus from there around the island and back to the mainland. That will put us in New Jersey, I think."

Captain America nodded. "That will work. All right, everybody, pack it up, we're hiking."

**All right, now I have to write like a madwoman in order to get some chapters done before rehearsal. Thank you to everyone who wished me luck last night. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you supporting me and my work. **

**3, K.S.**


	23. Chapter 23 - Days 5 and 6

_This is unreal,_ Riven thought. _I never, ever imagined seeing something like this._

She glanced over the top of her magazine, grey eyes finding her friends. Riven hid a grin behind the magazine.

The Avengers plus one were on a bus.

The first thing they'd done was send Natasha to find some clothes. The Black Widow wasn't exactly inconspicuous in her clingy bodysuit, but she was an expert at breaking and entering, and the sun had just gone down. Natasha had returned with clothes that at least came close to fitting all of them.

Soon after, they'd made their way into town and gotten something to eat; caught a bus, and then another bus; and were now on their way from the shores of New Jersey to New York City.

Dr. Banner was sitting across from Riven, sound asleep. Steve was next to the doctor, frowning a little as he read a magazine about cars. Natasha was curled up like a cat in a seat ahead of Riven – the Black Widow appeared to be sleeping, but Riven wouldn't bet on it.

Thor was sitting by the window, next to Natasha. He was staring out the window, apparently fascinated by the passing scenery. Every few minutes, he would glance down at the unfamiliar clothing he wore and fiddle with the buttons on his shirt.

Stark was in a seat by himself just behind the soldier and the doctor. The millionaire had his back to the window and his legs stretched out on the seat, flipping through what Riven suspected was not a kid-friendly magazine.

Hawkeye was sitting next to Riven. He'd insisted on her taking the window seat, but Riven was fairly sure that was because he wanted a clear shot in case of trouble. She didn't mind. Hawkeye had picked up an old paperback mystery story at the last bus stop, and had his head down, reading.

Riven returned her attention to her somewhat outdated copy of _Quantum Mechanics_, and smiled again. _No one will ever believe that I was on a bus with the Avengers. That's all right. I don't believe it myself._

Day 6

Riven woke up with her head on Hawkeye's shoulder. She blinked, thinking for a terrified moment that she was back in the cave and had just been shot. Then Hawkeye stirred, and Riven realized that she was on a bus.

She sighed. _That felt close. It wasn't, it couldn't possibly have been, but it was awfully scary. _Riven lifted her head to look at Hawkeye, and smiled when she saw that he was asleep.

Riven glanced around at the others, and found Steve looking back at her. She smiled at him, and whispered, "Command, Cap and Riven." Riven gently slid away from Hawkeye, not wanting to wake him.

"Hey, Steve," she whispered. "What's up?"

Steve blinked, and then figured out the expression. Riven silently apologized to him for using a phrase that he likely hadn't heard before. "Nothing. We're close to Stark Tower."

Steve hesitated for a moment, and then glanced back at Riven. She raised an ebony eyebrow in his direction. "Do I need to repeat what I said last time, Captain?"

He smiled. "No, Miss Lange. I'll _spit it out _now. Do you really think we can hide from the Freed? Do you think we can take them down? We almost certainly won't have support from SHIELD. The Freed have been planning this. I imagine they synchronized their attacks on all of SHIELD, so that no one would be able to call for backup."

Riven sighed, and looked out the window at the walls of traffic that surrounded them, despite it being only a little past midnight. She remembered the last time she'd been in New York, the day that changed her life. "I don't know, Steve. I just don't know. If Stark has a lab I can use, I should be able to find Fury using his communicator, but I don't know if the Freed will find us. I don't know if Fury's still alive. I don't know how to stop them. I can't compute an equation without the variables."

Steve closed his eyes for a moment. "I was afraid you'd say something like that. Basically, we have no idea what we're doing."

Riven made a soft clicking sound with her tongue, causing Steve to look back at her. She stared him down with brilliant grey eyes, and said firmly, "But that's the nice thing about math, Captain. You don't have to know what you're doing. As long as you use the right equation, you put in the numbers and the algebra does the rest for you."

Steve smiled at her. "I'll take your word for that." Riven covered her mouth with her hand, not wanting to laugh – not wanting to wake up Hawkeye.

She switched her communicator back to _Avengers plus Riven,_ and she laid her head back on Hawkeye's shoulder, closing her eyes.

But the last words she'd said to Steve replayed in Riven's mind, and she tried without success to ignore the tiny voice in her head that added unwelcome thoughts.

_As long as you use the right equation, you put in the numbers and the algebra does the rest for you – but only if you do it right_

Riven couldn't sleep.

And it wasn't because she'd slept most of the way from Acadia to Stark Tower. It had to be something about the room she was in.

Stark had provided all of them with rooms in the bunker/basement of Stark Tower, and Riven's was stifling. It was a perfectly nice room, tastefully decorated (she suspected she had Pepper to thank for that), and properly ventilated. But to Riven, it was absurdly hot in her room, and the something was wrong with the bed, too. She couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was just overkill. Too soft, too big, too comfortable.

Riven rolled onto her back and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. The Avengers were all asleep in their respective rooms, and Riven couldn't get to sleep. She'd worried for a few minutes that maybe there was still a piece of the Tesseract inside her, but had quickly discarded that theory. Riven had been eating a lot every since the Tesseract shard had been removed from her side, and she was exhausted, in desperate need of rest – _and she still couldn't sleep._

Riven gave up, and climbed out of bed. The blue silk pajamas she'd found in a drawer were only a little too big for her, and her bare feet made little noise as she padded across the door. Riven opened it slightly, and looked out into the hallway.

Everything was dark, and Riven could hear what she suspected was demigod snoring from a few doors down. She smiled, and made her way down the hall. Only Tony Stark would put a fully equipped entertainment room in an underground bunker, but Riven was grateful for it now.

She fumbled for the light switch on the wall, wincing as the bright lights came on. Riven surveyed the room, and smiled a little when she spotted what she was sure was a couch that folded out into a bed.

_Perfect. I can pack the pillows around me, and it should be cool enough for me to sleep._

Riven crossed the room to the couch, and pulled off the cushions. She was gratified to see that she'd been right – it did have a fold out mattress. Riven gripped the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened. She frowned, and pulled harder. Still nothing.

"Need some help with that?"

Riven jumped, turning. "Shit! Hawk, it scares me when you do that!"

"I know." The archer was leaning against the doorframe, smiling. "You're pretty when you're scared."

The tip of Riven's nose turned pink, her mind racing back to the various times over the past few days when she had been completely terrified. "Thanks. I think. And no, I can do it."

Riven returned her attention to the couch, hauling on the handle for all she was worth. For a long moment, nothing happened, and then the mattress folded out with an almighty jerk that had Riven stumbling backwards, waving her arms in a frantic attempt to stay on her feet.

Hawkeye's hand rested between her shoulder blades, catching her easily. "Thanks," Riven breathed, then looked with satisfaction at the folded-out couch. "I told you I could do it."

He didn't reply, and a suspicion made Riven turn her head to catch Hawkeye obviously stifling laughter. Riven sighed. "Ah. I should have guessed. Thank you, I suppose."

"I'm sorry," Hawkeye said softly. "I wanted to help."

Riven blinked up at him, mesmerized by his storm-colored eyes. "I know," she replied. "It's all right." And to prove it, Riven stood on tip-toe and gently kissed him.

Hawkeye smiled down at her, and then Riven yelped in surprise as he scooped her up and deposited her on the folding mattress. He sat down next to her as Riven stretched out and sighed.

"Much better," she declared. Hawkeye smiled again, picking up his bow from where he'd leaned it against the couch, and knocking an arrow from the quiver he'd left in the same place. Before Riven could blink, Hawkeye had quite calmly shot the light switch.

Sitting in the newly dark entertainment room, Riven said quietly, "Stark isn't going to be happy about that."

"Stark can afford it," Hawkeye replied, stretching himself out next to her.

Riven smiled. "That was pretty cool." Then she sighed. "Hawk, I'm scared. We're being hunted. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to find the Freed, and I don't know how to stop them."

Hawkeye wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Riven tucked her head into his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Tonight, we're just going to sleep. We can worry about the Freed in the morning."

Riven nodded sleepily, her nose slightly flattened against Hawkeye's shoulder. Then she shuddered a little.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Riven replied. "I was just thinking about that awful book you used to read, when you couldn't sleep."

Hawkeye pulled back slightly to get a good look at Riven's face. "I don't need it anymore," he whispered, and kissed her.

Neither of them had nightmares.

** To be continued in ****_The Freed._**

**Please don't hate me. I need a few days to organize my thoughts, and this was the only way I could think of to keep the action coming without draining me of all sanity or creating a gap that would bore everyone. I'll be back. Watch for ****_The Freed. _**

**Because they might be watching you.**

**This way, I'll be able to compile a lot of the next installment, so I can update it regularly and not drive myself completely crazy. I have been vastly unfair to my family in the last few weeks, because I've spent all my free time on the computer, writing and updating and searching for good writing music. I need to work on my grades and my singing for rehearsal. I need to commune with my cat, and actually sleep more than five hours a night. I need to remember to eat lunch. Stopping here, even temporarily, makes me want to cry, but I'm not done. And this is the best way to do it.  
**

**This way, I'll be able to give you more story at once, and I'll be able to track my details so that I don't do something really stupid with the plot, like I almost did when I shattered the Tesseract. In theory, that should have stranded Thor and Loki on earth. Fortunately, I remembered a team-up comic I once read where Thor transported himself and Spiderman to Asgard using Mjolnir.**

**I'm so glad no one called me on that. I am thrilled to have 13 favorites and 21 followers on this story.**

**Keep an eye out, because ****_The Freed _****are on their way.**

**I love you all. Wait for me.**

**K.S.**


End file.
